SWIMSHOP | GIVEAWAY

When I was a child I loved going to Swimming Lessons once a week and I am pretty gutted my eldest was unable to go to swim lessons due to her toilet problems but she is now too scared to even go into water! My youngest loves swimming, we taught to swim when we were on holiday in Thailand, you can read some tips to teach your child to swim here.

Swimshop is giving away a £25 voucher to one lucky reader. Swimshop sell a range of things such as swimming costumes, pool play items, accessories and much more. If you would like to win £25 to spend at Swimshop then please read the Terms and Conditions below, then enter by using the Rafflecopter.

Good Luck.

Terms & Conditions.
1. Winner will be e-mailed within 24 hours when giveaway has ended.
2. Giveaway will END 10th May 2015 at 11.59PM.
3. No cheating, you will be disqualified.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

MUMMY & ELLIW.

Elliw only goes to playschool part-time and Mia goes to school full time, so when Elliw is home for the last few hours before we need to get Mia we try to have some 'Mummy and Daughter' time before Mia comes home. I wish I could do it more often with Mia but we never get the time to do it or there is no babysitter for Elliw for me and Mia to have time together.

Elliw is quite behind on her speech, although it can be really frustrating for us I always think it must be ten times more frustrating for her. Me and my partner always try our best to learn her new words and ask her to repeat them a couple of times.

On a Tuesday Mia goes to after school club so I only have to take them both to school 9am and pick Elliw up 11am then we get a good few hours together. I try to do most of the housework on Tuesdays and she likes to help me sometimes but then other times she decides to have her tantrums! But that's Elliw for you.

Last Tuesday Me and Elliw decided to go upstairs and read some books before we tided up her room and sort their clothes out. She loves sitting down and looking at books and she is slowly turning out like her big sister Mia. I've caught Elliw a few times pretending to play school and pretending she is a teacher, it just shows me how fast she is growing up. It makes me feel sad a little bit that my youngest baby is growing up so quick and turning to be a little girl.

EVENTS

I love going too concerts and events and we are lucky that there are some great events in North Wales. I've been very lucky to be able to see some amazing singers live such as Jessie J, Rhianna, Jason Derulo, Liberty X (old I know!), Paolo Nutini and more!

I was lucky that I had a friend who won tickets for the BBC's Big Weekend and she gave me a ticket! That has to be one of the best experiences of my life, the atmosphere was amazing. I have all the photos on my other laptop which currently doesn't work at the moment! That event was in a massive field in a place called 'Vaynol' that is in Bangor. I have been to other great events in Vaynol when I was younger. I got to watch Shayne Ward and Girls Aloud live, it was a good few years back now.

A good few years ago, way before I had my first daughter I went to an event (another concert) that was in a town near me. That's where I saw Liberty X sing live and event was called 'Big Buzz'. I can't remember it properly but from what I remember I did enjoy it.

Eiras Park in Colwyn Bay do great events yearly and I was lucky enough to go last year. They do 2 nights but I decided to buy a ticket to watch Jessie J live. I honestly can't remember what the other groups were called but they were amazing. I really did enjoy myself and again, the atmosphere there was fantastic.

If you want to find out any events that are going on in your area you can find out here at Eventbrite, they're a global marketplace for live experiences! 
If you would like to host an event and sell tickets, Eventbrite is a great place for that as well!

Behind The Scenes.

I thought I would do a completely different kind of blog post for a change. Most people will only upload photos which are perfect or near-enough to perfect, such as the child/person looking straight at the camera with a smile and no funny faces. I thought i'd show a different side and show you just some of the photos I haven't uploaded or edited and you will probably know why as you look at them. Even though they aren't 'perfect' photos I love every single one of them because there is a funny side to each photo and I think it shows the memories and the laughter in each shot.

 

None of these photos were edited. Only the title photo!
 

LAMALOLI CLOTHES | REVIEW

 

We were recently asked if we would review some clothes from Lamaloli. Even though Mia and Elliw have way too much clothes at the moment, I had a look at their site and saw some lovely things so I said yes! At the moment they are both really loving My Little Pony so I decided to get them a few short sleeved and long sleeved tops of My Little Pony.

I got '4 years' for Elliw and 5 & 6 years for Mia. I think I should of stuck with 6 years for Mia and 5 years for Elliw. Although the material and the price of the clothes are fantastic I would advise to get a size bigger. Elliw usually fits into 3-4 or 4-5 years but Mia is a 4-5 years and 5-6 years can be pretty big so I thought an age 5 would be ok on her.

 

 

As you see above I have chosen mainly My Little Pony, but I thought I would choose a Frozen dress for Mia. I am so glad I chose this for her, it has a lovely bow detail on it's back too. I think I should have got her a bigger size as it was a little bit tight fitting around her waist/belly but I think it will be ok to last this Summer. This Frozen dress was £14.95.

I saw some lovely Monster High clothes but I was pretty gutted when there was nothing Mia's size so I got her some Monster High sock slippers and a pack of socks instead. Mia was over the moon with them! The material of the socks and sock slippers were much better quality than I thought. You can tell they will most definitely last a good few years. The socks were only £2.25 and the slipper socks were only £2.95! Fantastic price and fantastic products.

LamaLoLi sell all kinds of character clothing such as My Little Pony, Monster High, Frozen, Hello Kitty, Minions and so much more. They sell clothes for babies, toddlers, children and adults (all ages!). They even sell toys and accessories too. All items are affordable and although I have found the sizing a bit small, their prices are amazing and I know for next time I order just to buy a size bigger.

You can visit LamaLoLi here.

* I was not paid to do this post. I was given £40 voucher to spend over at LamaLoLi to give an honest review. All words, images and opinions are my own.

MEAL PLANNING WEDNESDAYS #2

The past week hasn't been too great. I've stuck to some days but been bad some days too. I really need a big shake to get my motivation back! I am going to try and make some homemade smoothies for lunch for this next week now. I am quite looking forward to it, so I can't wait to see the results. If you have any Smoothie recipes i'd love to know!

Meal Planning Week #2.

All lunch will be homemade fruit smoothies. Recipes & posts to follow.

Wednesday
Pizza & Pudding (going to a friends!)

Thursday
Chargill Chicken, Mushrooms, Onions & Noodles with Sweet Chilli Sauce.

Friday
Slimming World chips, gammon, egg and mushrooms.

Saturday
Slimming World Ready Meal

Sunday
Carrot & Swede mash with chicken, veg & gravy stock.

Monday
Slimming World chips with chicken and veg.

Tuesday
Slimming World Fry Up.

 

PREVIOUS POSTS

Week #1

THINGS ONLY A 90'S KID WILL REMEMBER

I feel so old writing this! I was born in 1992 and I sit back sometimes and wish we were living back in the 90's. There wasn't much technology about and I must say we had the best TV show and music, especially compared to now days. Here are just a few things only a 90's kid will remember...

1. Coloured Milky/Scented gel pens that everyone had! I actually miss them!

2. Loved watching the great TV shows - Sabrina The Teenage Witch, Buffy, Grange Hill, Lizzie McGuire, Galdiators, Robot Wars, Queens Nose, Kenan & Kel, Sleepover Club, Worst Witch and My Parents are Aliens.

3. Even the cartoons were great - Rugrats, Rosie and Jim, Tots TV, Ed, Edd and Eddy, Hey! Arnold, Teletubbies and Brum.

4. Remember trying to fit your Portable CD Player in your pocket? & carrying around your favourite CD Disks.

5. When everyone had the same phone, Nokia! & we all loved playing 'Snake'.

6. Those cringey songs 'Ketchup Song' and the 'Fast Food Song'

7. The great music! STEPS, S Club 7, Aqua, N Sync, Spice Girls, Backstreet Boys & Britney Spears.

8. When we all knew how to draw that cool 'S'

 

9. Those school dinner trays.

 

10. The time we used to go knock the door for a friend instead of a text!

 

11. Those awful Inflatable bags and furniture! - I used to have a yellow inflatable bag. What was I thinking?!

 

12. Jelly shoes! We all had them!!

 

13. The time MSN, Myspace and Bebo came...

 

14. We were all experts on 'Paint'

 

15. Those Aliens! Why did we think they could make baby aliens? So funny looking back!

 

16. The time when 'Freddo's' were only 5p! 

 

17. Watching SM-TV

 

18. Bif, Kipper, Chip & Floppy - need I say more?

 

 

 

19. Blind Date!

 

20. The time when we had Scoobies! Now it's Loom bands!

 

21. Favourite games - Sonic the hedgehog, Mario and Crash Bandicoot!

 

22. The classic game stations - Gameboy and Nintendo!

 

23. We had Furbies first!

 

24. We also had Tamagotchi too!

 

25. The times we actually went out to play, not sitting inside on game stations and behind an iPad or phone!

 

The great times. Anyone else remember any of these or have anything else to add? Feel free to comment!

 

Take a look at these and see I they bring back any memories -

 

 

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Does It Get Easier Or Harder?

A lot of people ask me 'does it get easier or harder as they get older?' and I will never lie about parenting. The answer is a yes and no really. I'm going to talk about Mia mainly because she is the eldest so I've seen her change much more in the past 5 years.

A T T I T U D E
Looking back to when Mia was a newborn and even a toddler I think I would prefer the newborn cry or the toddler tantrums instead of the horrible attitude I get sometimes. They know a lot more words at 5 years old and they can answer back to everything. They don't care what you say or tell them they will still carry on their attitude if they are in that 'mood' and I do find it a lot more stressful.

T A N T R U M S / / S U L K I N G
Yep, 5 year olds still have tantrums and sulking times. It can be really stressful at times. Sometimes Mia will go through a phase of kicking and hitting me but luckily that hasn't happened for a while now as she used to be really bad at doing it. Even though I do find it really hard to cope and very stressful when Mia goes through her sulking and tantrum stage I think I find Elliw a little bit harder because she is a bit stronger and she will just throw herself on the floor and scream the place down.

I N D E P E N D E N T
As they get older they want to do more things themselves. They don't want the parent to help them as much as before and this is where we see that our little child has grown. It is weird seeing your child getting dressed by themselves, writing, colouring well and just doing a lot more things themselves. That is when it is a bit easier than when they were younger. They are just happy enough to do things themselves (sometimes).

Children grow up too fast and it is us that learn them the right from wrong, although that can be hard to because children are right about everything (atleast they think they are!) *sarcasm*. I think it will get harder as they get older, we got more things to learn them and I think a lot more arguments and answering backs! One thing I can't wait for when my girls are older is going shopping and having a mother and daughter time with them both.

Do you think it will get easier or harder as they grow up?

* Please note - I have only written this based on my own experience. I have not written this saying that every child at 5 years old is like this. Every child is different and show their tantrums differently. If you do have any worries or problems about a child's behaviour or any other worries, as the Health Visitor or Doctors.

A Mother's Journal To Her Child #2.

If you read my blog then you might of seen my previous post, if you haven't then you can take a read here. I have started this Online Journal to write things down about me and my family so my two girls can take a look back when they are older.

MUM GROWING UP (7 years - 15 years)

Who were your best friends in primary school?
Amy, Natasha, Daniel.

Best friends in secondary school?
Amy, Rachel, Becky, Gabbi, Kim & Clara.

Where did you live?
Bangor, North Wales.

Favourite singing group?
STEPS! I was a little too obsessed. Ha ha.

Favourite colour?
Pink.

Hobby?
Writing.

Favourite subject in secondary school?
I enjoyed French. Also enjoyed History because I had it with my best friend and we always had a laugh!

Favourite teacher in primary & secondary school?
In primary I think it was Mrs Walters. Secondary I would say Mr. Hughes.

During the day and after school I liked too..?
Usually went to town to meet friends, or walk around were I lived.

My friends would describe me as...?
Funny and the 'slow' one as I was always slow understand jokes HA HA.

Favourite TV Programme?
Friends & still is!

Favourite Book?
I read a lot more then and from what I remember I liked reading a book called 'About A Boy'.

What I loved about growing up?
I loved the freedom and being able to just do what I want. I sit down sometimes and wish I had done some things differently. I should have relaxed more and should not have taken life so seriously. I was a child, I had no idea how it was to be an Adult!

Until next time... Mum xxx

Next Posts:
# Life After School & First Pregnancy. (16 years - 17 years)
# Meeting my partner & Second Pregnancy (18 years - 20 years)
# Life as a family of four.
# Memories with the Family.
# Mia Growing Up.
# Elliw Growing Up.

50 THINGS THAT MAKE ME HAPPY

1. My two beautiful daughters.
2. My nephew.
3. My Partner.
4. My lovely home.
5. My family.
6. Close friends.
7. Blogging.
8. Having some 'Mum' time.
9. Going out for lunch.
10. Days out.
11. Blogging.
12. Cuddles with my daughters.
13. Money (when I get it!).
14. Walking.
15. Taking photos.
16. Looking through old photo albums.
17. Family get togethers.
18. That feeling after giving your house a spring clean.
19. Loosing weight.
20. My 'quiet' evenings when kids are in bed.
21. Waking up to my two beautiful daughters each morning.
22. Writing.
23. Buying new journals and notepads!
24. Watching Hollyoaks (sad I know!)
25. My 'quiet' 2 hour morning break when girls are in school.
26. Listening to my youngest saying new words perfectly.
27. Watching my eldest draw pictures.
28. Watching my two girls playing together nicely which is quite rare!
29. Un-stressful school mornings.
30. A summery family day out.
31. When I have achieved something that makes myself proud.
32. Chocolate.
33. Christmas.
34. Talking about old memories.
35. Having a cup of tea.
36. Shopping.
37. Buying new clothes.
38. When all the washing is done.
39. Our date nights.
40. My pink comfy dressing gown.
41. Chinese!!
42. New shoes/boots.
43. Post/Deliveries.
44. Watching Disney films with the girls.
45. Sitting down doing nothing, with no kids!
46. Getting new e-mails.
47. Movie nights.
48. Seeing my girls happy and smiling.
49. Watching my girls helping eachother out.
50. Buying new things/accessories for the house.

It was pretty hard trying to think of 50 things that make me happy but there we go! I am sure there are a lot more things that make me happy but I really can't think of any at the moment. I haven't been tagged by anyone but I would like to tag; Kerry at OhSoAmelia | Catriona at LovedByMummy & Jess at OwlCrazyMummy