Journeys Are My Diary

Life, Adventures, Entertainment and more - A little bit of everything blog!

Monthly Round-up – March

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Watching: Given that it’s mid-April before I write this, I have very little recollection of what I watched, other than what I made a note of in my phone. I watched several Netflix series including; The OA, Friends with Better Lives,
Don’t Trust the B in Apartment 23, and Iron Fist but I don’t remember which others. I watched the newest Annie movie. I also re-watched Cinderella and Guardians of the Galaxy. As well as keeping up with Bones, Holby City, Casualty, Riverdale, Grimm, New Girl etc. I saw Beauty and the Beast at the cinema.
Sewing & Making (for Closet Geek): March was pretty crazy for orders, always seeming like I had a few more than I could cope with. However I managed to get through them and that’s what counts! I announced a Wonderland Giveaway for the monthly box, plus made LOADS of ears and bows, along with a Belle dress, two Briar Rose dresses, a Boys Woody top and waistcoat and a girls Woody dress. There was also a huge wave of orders for Infinity scarves after Roisin from Disneyfind, shared the scarf I sent her. I think I made 15 in one week and since then the orders dribble in still! Of course there was a technicolour dreamcoat and a pharaoh costume too which you can read more about below! Finally with the upcoming 25th Anniversary for DLP, I designed some ears which have proved very popular too!

And in other news…
– One of the first things that happened this month was Lily’s birthday, when she turned 9. We had a very calm day, making lego in the morning, Pizza Hut for lunch and then chilling out when we got home until bedtime.
– World Book Day was also at the beginning of this month and since last year Lily had gone as Harley Quinn, before it was super popular to be Harley Quinn, this year she went as Dr Harleen Quinzel. She looked absolutely fabulous. Megan didn’t get to dress up now she’s at secondary school, which is sad!


– Megan broke up with her boyfriend – her choice. It wasn’t especially dramatic but she did feel pretty bad afterwards so us three girls went shopping and I taught the girls about retail therapy ;)
– One of the most life changing things that happened this month is that we finally got an offer on the house. March 13th. After having the house on the market for almost a year, and after living here for almost 4 years when we only intended it to be 1 or 2. Fingers crossed it’s all proceeding well as we have accepted the offer since then, the “sold” sign went up on 20th, we had the survey done and started to complete the forms. More info to follow!
– Lily and I went on her school trip, to Cadbury World near Birmingham. It’s always really nice to share school trips with the girls but this time it was especially nice as Lily and I even sat together on the coach. It was a long and tiring day, especially as Lily was full of cold but we both enjoyed ourselves.
– Amy and Liv came to visit for the weekend and although we didn’t do a lot, we seemed to keep busy. We didn’t pick them up till fairly late on Friday so all we did was drink and catch up, but then Saturday we saw Beauty and the Beast, plus went to Meadowhall and had Five Guys. On Sunday we just hung out while I got some work done, until eventually I took them back to the station.
– Chris’ birthday was the 20th and it was nice to spend the day together, even though the girls weren’t around to enjoy it at all. We went into Lincoln in the morning to do some shopping but it threw it down with rain all day so we cut it short and came home. In the evening we met with friends and went to Frankie and Benny’s for dinner and then did an “Escape the Room” game which was amazing. Hopefully I will post about that soon!
– Not really a big fan of Red Nose Day (or Children in Need for that matter) but always happy to donate £1 to non-uniform and a red nose etc. However I did love that there was a “Red Nose Day Actually” short, like an update to Love Actually – and I cried and found it amazing too.
– Then came Mother’s Day. The girls made a mistake with my gift and ended up upset but it really didn’t matter as it was lovely to spend the day with them and then with my own mum too at lunch time. We went out to a restaurant called Meat Inc. that does amazing burgers and I was really hoping to review but completely forgot to take pics! Maybe next time we visit I will remember.
– I can’t remember if I mentioned this last month or not but Lily was given the part of Pharaoh in her school play – Joseph and his technicolour dreamcoat. She was really excited (and nervous) as it was a big part but I knew she would be amazing (AND SHE WAS!). I offered to make the technicolour dreamcoat for school and Lily’s Pharaoh costume too. I was the last of the family to see her play (with everyone else seeing it Monday and Tuesday, and Megan and I waiting till Wednesday) but it was pretty decent. I got embarrassed at the end however as I got given a bunch of flowers and a very public thank you, for helping with the costumes.
– One of the last things we did in March was have some friends around for socialising. We played Jackbox all night and it was a lot of fun. I’m really glad we’re finding more time to do that, although I do wonder if moving will effect these nights!

Looking forward to in April:
– Easter Holidays! I love love LOVE having the girls off school – not just for having them around, but also for saving myself three hours in a car for the school run. We don’t have too much planned but you never know!
– We have tickets to see Joseph and his technicolour dreamcoat at Skegness on Easter Weekend. After it was announced that Lily’s school would be doing the play, she took such an interest that I suggested booking tickets. I’m so glad I did as she was then given a great part and really loved the play. I can’t wait for her to see it done on a big stage.
– Mum’s birthday is in April. We probably won’t do much but I’ve already bought her present and no doubt we’ll all go out for lunch.

July AND August Round-up

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july
Can you believe it got to August 21st before I actually got around to writing my July round-up? I had remembered earlier than that but with one thing or another, I just didn’t find time to write it up. However by that point it seemed a bit random to post so late in the month and I decided to save it and do July and August together. July will be far more vague but here they both are anyway!

Watching: Fringe (Season 4-5), Vampire Diaries (Season 7), Wayward Pines (Season 1-2), Sleepy Hollow (Season 3), Grimm (Season 6), Suits (Season 6), Transformers – Age of Extinction, Bones (Season 6+)
Reading: Cinder.
Sewing & Making (for Closet Geek): A few more ears, some bunting, an Anna skirt, along with the usual orders of bows, pencil cases and clothes.

And in other news…
– Pokemon Go became a big things for Lily. She doesn’t have her own phone and it won’t work on her iPad so I let her use it on my phone. I have to admit I don’t mind encouraging it – especially the walks to hatch eggs.
– Probably the most notable part of July was the girls finishing school for the summer, coupled with Megan leaving primary school altogether. The last two weeks were very emotional with School play, Leavers Do, Church Services, Leavers Assembly, Sports Day etc. However even though she was sad, school ended on a high note and hopefully she’s looking forward to Secondary School in September.
– We had some beautiful weather, actually like Summer for a change. It was really nice but of course didn’t last long!
– The girls washed Chris’s car, outside with Chris. They started on mine too but soon got bored and Chris ended up finishing it.
– Dentists. Enough said.
– Our first camping trip took place at the very end of July. We went to a place called Staxton, near Scarborough for the weekend and actually had a great time.

 

august

Watching: I completely caught up with Bones, right up to the end of Season 10. Criminal Minds (from Season 2-), Captain America: Winter Soldier (finally), X-Men 1, 2 and 3 with the kids. Daredevil (Season 2). Containment, Musketeers and Vikings.
Reading: Cinder, Reliquary.
Sewing & Making (for Closet Geek): Harry Potter bunting, loads and loads of pencil cases.

And in other news…
– We went to Meadowhall shopping, to get Beauty and the Beast tsum tsums, shoes for Megan and of course FIVE GUYS! It was Nat’s first time too.
– Nat, Megan, Lily and I went to a Harry Potter convention and ball. We had an overnight stay at the Premier Inn, Nottingham.
– Chris bought Lily a starter set of Pokemon cards and then taught her how to play.
– We took our second camping trip, this time to Chichester, where we spent the day on a boat in the marina and got a brand new tent too!
– We got an ice cream maker to review AND made ice cream. It was pretty amazing.
– Placed an uber Hobbycraft order which was pretty exciting!
– Closet Geek turned ONE! I still can’t believe it really but its actually a great feeling. I love my work more than I ever thought possible.
– Went to see Suicide Squad at the cinema. It was really nice as Chris and I went with my best friend and her boyfriend Dan.
– I took the girls to the beach and we had a really great day. We went to Mablethorpe and the weather was beautiful. We had candy floss, ice cream and the girls got an airbrush tattoo.

Looking forward to in September:
– Megan starts school on 2nd September so that is both terrifying and exciting. I can’t believe she’s old enough for secondary school. I hope her first day goes well!
– Amy is hopefully coming to visit next weekend. I haven’t seen her since May so it will be lovely to see her and Liv again.
– (Not entirely sure I’m looking forward to this but..) Seeing the Halloween orders flood in for Closet Geek. I’m hoping its not as crazy as last year but its nice to be busy.
– Other than that there isn’t much going on this month so we’ll just see how it goes!

Week 8 – Monday Round-up

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Once again I haven’t managed to keep on top of my week, so I’m writing this all from memory after the whole week has passed. It’s been a really busy week and I honestly can’t believe how tired I’ve felt every day, but its been a lovely week, full of surprises and unexpected plans!

Monday began with a lie-in, because both the girls had stayed at their dad’s the night before. Chris was working at 12.30pm though so it did mean we had to get up eventually. While Chris spent the first part of the morning on his computer, I spent mine watching TV. Chris then came down and joined me, while getting himself ready for work. A parcel arrived in the post and it was a HUGE Hot Topic order that I had placed at Christmas and sent to my friend who lives in the USA. She had finally got around to mailing it to me and I was so excited to get it opened. However Chris was just leaving for work and I was running a bath so I only looked at it briefly before saying goodbye to Chris and then going for my bath. I had my new Unicorn Horn in the bath, a little late for Valentine’s Day but good nonetheless. Afterwards I went to get dressed and ended up trying on all of my Hot Topic dresses!

Without really meaning to, I ended up texting Amy for the majority of my morning and into the afternoon. We discussed her birthday, Florida, Hot Topic and even all my new dresses. I even ended up sending her pics of me wearing each dress! Eventually I went downstairs again and Nat arrived to spend the afternoon with me. We didn’t really do much but we sat and drank tea, chatting and catching up, planning what we might do to earn us some money! It was actually pretty late on by the time Nat left, I would guess around 7.30-8pm and so I fixed myself some dinner and settled down for the evening. Next I knew I was making plans with Amy for her to come and visit the very next day! Chris arrived home eventually and we sat down to watch the next episode of The Walking Dead. It was almost as dull as the week before, though the last five minutes was marginally more interesting. We headed to bed as we had lots to fit in the next day and already I was realising it would be a busy week!

Tuesday we got up around 9am, still no kids to wake us! We got ready and dressed, heading out to the Plumb Centre in order to get a part for mum’s sink. We then headed over to mum’s house and fitted the pipe for her. It didn’t go 100% to plan but we got there in the end. Not long after we finished, mum turned up with the kids. She’d picked them up from their dad’s and taken them to see some mutual friends that morning, but I was collecting them from her and then going to pick up Amy and Olivia from the station. We headed straight off to get Amy and arrived a little early so had to wait. However at around 12.30pm they arrived and we all set off back to Gainsborough. When we got back, we headed to Tesco as we needed a few essentials, along with some food for dinner and also ingredients for pancakes (Tuesday was Pancake Day!). Finally we got back home, unpacked and relaxed for a while but then I remembered I needed to go into town and everyone bar Chris decided to come too. After going to the Post Office, we went to buy Tsum Tsum’s for Amy and Liv, but Lily ended up getting some too. We then also went for a wander around Gainsborough before eventually heading back again. I cooked Lasagne for dinner which we all ate and then after Liv was in bed I made pancakes for everyone. I was so stuffed and well over my calorie allowance for the day!

Lily went to bed too and Chris was upstairs on his computer with his friend Jon. Amy and I sat chatting for the evening, eventually sending Megan to bed around 10pm. I don’t honestly remember what we chatted about but I know it mostly revolved around Florida. Either way the evening went fast and it was gone midnight before we were heading to bed. On Wednesday we all got up and Chris was getting ready to go to work, while we were planning the first of Lily’s birthday celebrations. Unfortunately her best friend is away over her birthday (a week each side), as is my mum, so we’re really limited by what we can do and what she’ll enjoy. Instead of having a party without her friend, we decided to have a day out in half term with Ciara, then a meal out just me, Megan and Lily on her birthday, then a small party/murder mystery a week after that. Ultimately she’ll be celebrating over a period of about a month but I’m sure she won’t mind! Anyway, we booked Orange Wednesday tickets for 6 of us, meaning we only paid for 3 and then tried to book ASK for lunch but unfortunately it wasn’t open before the time we needed to leave the house. We headed off out around 11.30am and went to pick Ciara up from her house in Saxilby. We then went into Lincoln and parked the car, heading to ASK for lunch. Unfortunately they claimed to have no room for us (depsite being half empty) so we headed off to Prezzo instead. I was a little upset by this as I’d converted all my Tesco vouchers into ASK vouchers, in order to save myself money and instead had to pay out full price in Prezzo and have ASK vouchers I couldn’t use. Luckily though I found a 25% off code for Prezzo on my phone and the three younger girls all ate off a kids menu that only cost £3.50 anyway.

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Though it felt a bit rushed, we headed out of Prezzo and over to the Odeon. We were in plenty of time for the movie though and all settled down to watch the trailers. All of us loved the movie as we were seeing Big Hero 6 again, though it was the first time for Lily’s friend Ciara. By the time the movie ended, it was almost 4pm. We headed out to the car and then drove Ciara home. After dropping her off we were all so exhausted that we barely spoke on the way home and Liv even fell asleep. When we got back to the house the girls had to fit in their Disney task – which was dress up Disney. Amy didn’t think that Olivia had the energy to participate but as soon as my girls were dressed as princesses, she wanted to join in too. After that it was a case of basic but fast dinner for the kids, so Liv could get to bed, shortly followed by Lily and then Megan too. Amy and I spent a large part of the evening on phones/computers, barely talking as we were both tired. Eventually Chris came home from work and joined us so we put on some TV, just to chill out. First we watched Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares, then came Beauty & the Geek and finally we watched a ridiculous program called Virgin Coaches. It was 1am by the time we all headed to bed which was ridiculous considering how tired we had all been!

On Thursday we really did an awful lot of nothing. Amy was heading home that day but not until 4pm. However this sort of made it feel like we couldn’t do anything for the day so instead just lounged around. I don’t think any of us really minded as we were all still tired though. After lunch Megan started to get a headache and so she headed upstairs for a lie down. Eventually Amy had to leave and so Lily and I went with them to the station. There was nowhere to park at the station though and we very almost missed the train for them! Once they were safely aboard, Lily and I went to Tesco again. We bought a few bits we needed but also some things for Megan with the hope she would feel better soon. In the evening we caught up on Hunchback of Notre Dame and then the girls went to bed. I spent the evening catching up on my blog and trying to fight off tiredness that eventually led to an early night!

Friday we were all going to Meadowhall however Chris had woken in the night with a terrible sore throat and had ended up downstairs for the majority of the night. Though it woke and disturbed me at the time, it actually lead to me sleeping a little longer in the morning so I woke feeling very refreshed. At 9am I made sure the girls were up and ready, dressed and had breakfast. Mum arrived for us at 10am and all four of us set off, along with mum and my sister Pippa. We arrived at Meadowhall around 11am and agreed to go our separate ways and meet for lunch at 12.30pm. The girls, Chris and I headed for Next as both the girls had vouchers to spend and then we went next door to Primark for the bulk of their shopping. At Christmas I had bought the girls a lot of new dresses and am also making them some Disney themed ones too. As such we were only looking for cardigans, shoes, sunglasses and sunhats. Even still it took the whole hour and a half, meaning we had to rush to meet mum and Pippa for lunch. When we found them, they were ordering jacket potatoes so we found a table and then Chris and I went to get our lunch. Me, Chris and Lily all had Pizza Hut Express, while Megan had McDonalds. After lunch we nipped the shopping to the car and then went back to where we left off. We made our way all around the top level of Meadowhall, before then tackling the bottom level. Mum text to say she was done and waiting in the car but not to rush. In the end we were about another hour after that. When we got back to the car, mum drove us home and when we got there we were all exhausted again. However we needed to have dinner and watch a Disney movie so while we sat and did that, I sorted out all the clothes we’d bought.

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While the girls just had a microwave pizza (Lily) and toast (Megan), Chris ordered chinese takeaway for us. I had a little but I was stuffed really fast so I left the rest for him. While we had been out that day, I’d had a parcel arrive and be left in the back garden. Turned out it was a mannequin that I’d ordered so Chris very kindly put her together for me and while I was so tempted to get using her, I was exhausted. Instead Chris went on his computer and I sorted out the clothes and suitcases with the kids. After they were in bed I went for a nice relaxing bath and then laid on the bed for a while, playing on my phone. Eventually I came downstairs and watched some TV, Chris coming downstairs to join me. We didn’t stay up late though as he hadn’t slept well the night before and he had work the next day.

Chris woke at 6am and sneaked out fairly quietly to head off to work. I managed to get straight back to sleep and it was about 8.30am before I woke again but I managed to doze until about 9.30am. Eventually I got up and got the girls ready. Mum was calling for us at 11.30am and we were all going out for lunch to celebrate my sister’s birthday. The morning flew by and I didn’t even have chance to get a cup of tea. In the end I grabbed a can of diet pepsi as we left the house and then mum drove us all to Scunthorpe to meet with my brother and his girlfriend. We then headed out to a pub in pretty much the middle of nowhere, where we almost enjoyed a lunch together. Afterwards my brother and his girlfriend headed off and mum had to take Pippa home. Obviously we went with her as she’d picked us up but afterwards she drove us into Gainsborough so I could pop to the Post Office and go and collect Chris’ contact lenses from the Opticians. We then came back to the house and mum came in for a cup of tea and a chat. She ended up staying way longer than she intended to and Chris was arriving back from work just as she was leaving. Once mum was gone and Chris was back, it was time for the girls to have dinner and Chris was going to make himself some food. I had a bit of a headache so between Chris and Megan, they made me a cup of tea and organised both girls’ dinner. Chris then sat down with his food and we spent some of the evening together, before I headed upstairs to put Lily to bed. Once she was in bed, Chris went for a bath so Megan got her homework done and I sat on my computer. Once Chris was out of the bath it was pretty much time for Megan to go to bed and so she did and then Chris and I watched TV together. I was too tired again to do anything constructive so I ended up turning off my computer and just watching TV snuggled up with Chris. In the end we headed to bed though as we were both exhausted.

Finally it was around to Sunday and none of us had to be up but it was also the last day of half term so I wanted to make the most of my time with the girls. Chris spent majority of the day upstairs on his computer but I spent the day making sure Megan had got various homework (and blog posts) done and Lily helped me tidy and sort out clothes. We had lunch and watched Monsters Inc as it was our Disney task of the day and by the time we were finished it was late in the afternoon. The girls went for a bath and then had dinner, before sorting out their room, their clothes for school and eventually getting them to bed. Chris and I spent the evening watching TV before eventually heading to bed.

It’s been a good week and I’m actually sad that half term is over. However there’s definitely something to be said about the routine of a school week and time flying by. There is now just over 5 weeks till we go to Florida and I can’t believe how fast its all going. I have so much to do still but at the same time I can’t wait!

8/52

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This is a picture I shared on Instagram this week, from when we went to Meadowhall on Friday. Outside Yo Sushi was this big Baymax which the girls had their picture taken with. This was great as we’d been to see Big Hero 6 for the second time on Wednesday and the big inflatable Baymax from the cinema had been gone. We were sad as we’d wanted a picture taking with him and this was perfect because it meant we could.

Week 44 – Monday Round-up

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Today has been a bit of a rough day so hand on heart, I’m not really feeling like blogging today. However I don’t want to get behind, especially on a weekly round-up post. I do apologise in advance though, if I lack enthusiasm or heart, within my post!

This last week was my second week off, out of two. It started with my day in London on Monday, which I posted about earlier this morning. After a really nice day by myself, I came home to my friend Adam who was visiting for the week. Him and Chris had spent the evening together as I was later home than I expected, but we all headed to bed fairly early. On Tuesday, the girls were still with their dad so everyone got a lie-in. When we did eventually get up, we chilled out watching crappy TV before deciding to go get breakfast at Morrisons. After heading back home to chill out some more, Chris got ready for work and then headed out. Not long afterwards Adam and I headed out to Lincoln to do a little shopping, before heading to get the girls from their dad. We went to BHS where I bought a beautiful new diary, to Primark where Adam bought some t-shirts and to Starbucks where we both got coffee. Once we picked up the kids, we all headed home and Adam and I spent the evening with Nat, who popped around for our weekly chat. My brother also made a brief appearance for a quick coffee and chat.

Wednesday was fairly chill for the morning. It was nice to have the girls back but they were lovely and quiet in the morning so we all still got a lay-in again. Chris was off work, which was good as I’d made plans for later in the day and needed him to occupy Adam. After lunch I headed out with the girls to drop them off at mum’s again, then meet Nat from work to go to Costa Bingo’s Musical Bingo Night (which I’ll be posting about tomorrow). We left Lincoln at 3.30pm and got to Birmingham for 6pm. It was then about 11pm when we left and 1.30am before I was home!

The next morning I was incredibly tired! Sadly I needed to be up early and get the girls from my mum. Even once there, I had to wait for their dad to arrive – the girls had left their new toys at his house and he was dropping them off. Unfortunately he forgot which meant we had to wait an hour longer. He did offer to get us lunch at his place of work though, so we headed there to pick them up. I just had a baguette but the girls had sausage and mash. Afterwards we headed home and it was time for Amy to arrive. We met her at the station and then came home, relaxing for the rest of the day. Once the kids were in bed, Adam, Amy and I ordered takeaway and then watched a whole heap of terrible (yet hilarious TV) until Chris came home.

Friday was Halloween and this meant a lot of planning and preparations! After a slow start, I got up and made a list of everything we needed to shop for. The girls and I then headed out to Tesco, to buy everything we needed for the evening party food. We got back and had lunch, before hitting the kitchen. Amy, Olivia, Lily and Megan – all started off by making cakes. However after a while both Lily and Olivia were bored and headed off to sit in the lounge. Amy and Adam helped out at various points but Megan was the only one to stick it out throughout the whole afternoon. I was really proud of Megan, the food and especially the cakes she decorated herself.

For the first hour or so, I let the girls stay up, as all my friends arrived. We ate and chatted – the girls even sang Frozen songs. However when they went to bed, we all moved through to the lounge, started drinking and played “Cards Against Humanity”. I didn’t actually end up drinking anywhere near as much as I thought I would but we did end up staying up till 1.30am.

Again, I managed a lie-in, in the morning. However I deliberately didn’t stay in bed too long as Adam and Amy were still visiting. Once I got up, I tidied the kitchen and then just chilled out. Chris was at work and we had all planned to go to Meadowhall, to break up the day. After lunch we all headed out to Sheffield and spent the whole afternoon in Meadowhall. When we finished shopping, it was about 6pm. Adam caught the train from here as it was nearer than our house, but the rest of us headed home. The girls pretty much went straight to bed and Amy and I ordered takeaway again and watched TV whilst sitting part-chatting and part on our phones and computer. When Chris came home, Amy went to bed and Chris and I sat watching The Walking Dead before going to bed.

Finally it was Sunday and unfortunately I just couldn’t sleep too late. I got up and made a cup of tea, but ended up going back to bed just to read my book. Eventually I did get up but I continued to read my book, trying to make the most of my last day off. At lunchtime the girls and I headed out to take Amy and Olivia to the station, before going shopping to Aldi for our weekly shop. When we got home, Megan and I watched the X Factor as we hadn’t had chance the night before. We then went on to watch The Apprentice before I made them some dinner. Once Lily was in bed, Chris, Megan and I settled down to watch some Cake Boss: Next Great Baker but when the X Factor results came on, Chris headed back upstairs and Megan and I watched it together. When Megan was in bed, Chris came back downstairs and we spent the rest of the evening together, catching up on TV. I felt sad my two weeks were over and I have to admit I was dreading going back to a very unknown situation at work.

This sums up my week and honestly the next one hasn’t got off to a great start. Fingers crossed it will get better… I’ll let you know next week.

44/52

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A day early today, but since it was taken today (and today is 1st Nov), I wanted to place my first Christmasy photo as my 52 Project. We went to Meadowhall in Sheffield and the girls could have their picture taken inside a Snow Globe. I’m not one for starting to feel Christmasy early but this is definitely our first hint of Christmas.

Week 14 – Monday Round-up

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So as you’ll know, yesterday I posted an update on my 2014 Goals, in my Quarter Quell. The post had originally started off as my weekly round-up but when I realised how long it was getting, I figured I better make them two separate posts. So here is my weekly round-up!

This week has been great. Perhaps I’m only saying that now as its ending great (because it started manic) but overall its left me feeling like it was great! Monday I had only 3 days of work left, before breaking up for almost 3 weeks. This was a great motivation to get through the week. Not only that, but when I arrived home from work that day, I had both the Urban Decay palette that I’d bought, and also the Calvin Klein Endless Euphoria samples.

To top off an already good day, Chris, the kids and I all sat down to watch Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. The girls are enjoying the Harry Potter movies so far and I couldn’t be prouder!

Next came Tuesday and it started off a little sad to be honest. Mum was having the kids that night (because I asked her to but still…) and so when I dropped them off at school I knew I wouldn’t see them again until Wednesday after school. Sometimes at work I have too much time to think and sadly this was one of those days. For most of the day I dwelled on not seeing them but the second work was out, I just got excited. The reason for that? I was meeting up with Nat and we were going to Meadowhall. Not only that, but we were going to see Divergent, 3 days before its official UK release!

We were like two kids when we arrived at Meadowhall – honestly you would think we never get out! We spent a little while shopping (though I only spent £15), grabbed some dinner and then went to the cinema. Nat wrote a movie review and you can read it here.

My Meadowhall haul

Nat called in for a cuppa when we got home and that was nice too. Another great day! The following day was Wednesday and in lots of ways, this felt like the end of the week for me. The working week at least. Wednesday was a good day at work and even more so because it was the last. Sadly I wasn’t able to head straight home though as Lily had a birthday party after school. Instead we headed to mum’s to get changed, wrap the present and generally waste time. We headed to Wacky Warehouse for 5pm and while Lily was in the party, Megan and I had some much needed M&M time (Mummy and Megan time).

Megan tried chicken fajitas (though they were just breaded chicken in wraps, with cheese and barbeque sauce) and I had steak and onion baguette. There was also a plate of chips and cheese with bacon but shhh…. (what diet?). Lily finished her party at 7pm and after taking one of her friends home on our way, we went home too. That evening Nat and I officially launched Twice the Mum, starting off with our Weight Loss Wednesday link up (I’ll argue that I only started my diet the next day!)

Thursday I had to get up at the same time, as if I was going to work! The kids still had two more days off work. However Lily had an Easter assembly at school and it was lovely to know I could go. Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 all put together the story montage of the Easter Story. Lily had one line and I was so proud that she was one of the few people who just remembered it and didn’t need her script.

You can just see Lily to the left of this picture, stood against the wall

Afterwards I came home and was delighted to receive awesome mail! First up was a recorded delivery letter, which contained none other than my comic-con tickets. I seriously squealed and forgot all about the two other parcels sat on my lap for at least thirty minutes!

One of the other parcels, was a new router for our home. We’re getting fibre optic broadband today (Monday) and the router needs to arrive in advance! The second parcel was my new subscription to the Discovery Club, courtesy of The Fragrance Shop. It’s such a good idea and relatively cheap. You pay just £5 a quarter, for 5 sample scents. This month there is actually 7 though. On top of that, you also get a £5 voucher off every scent in the box, meaning if you like one you can buy a larger bottle at a reduced price!

No doubt I will be writing a blog post about its contents, once I’ve had a bit of a sniff!

I spent most of the day just catching up on things, especially my blog. In the evening I continued to catch up, this time on OUAT and OUAT in Wonderland. I have to admit I was pretty devastated by the former, crying for a good 20 minutes or so. The latter fails to impress me still but I’m continuing to hope for better things!

As I said before, the girls were still at school till Friday, so again I was up early. This time it was Megan’s turn for her Easter service, located in the local church. While I’m not particularly religious, it was quite nice to attend a tradition Easter service. It was even nicer to see Megan sing for both her Light Lunch club and also her X Factor club.

Again, Megan is on the left. The very end of the line.

When I headed home, I got even better mail! My new camera had arrived. It’s awesome and I love it and I really have to be careful not to waffle about it. So far I’ve only taken pictures using the auto setting but already I’m noticing the difference. Even my 52 Project photos were taken with it.

The battery needed charging when it arrived so this stopped me playing with it for too long. Instead I headed for a bath, caught up on some HIMYM (though I’m still nowhere near the finale) and dyed my hair using the new Washed Up Mermaid dye I bought.

I have to admit I’m fairly disappointed with it, especially for £5 a bottle. The first picture was after my first attempt (its only 15 minutes development time) and the second picture is after I tried again later that night. Its still not covered very well at all. In fact, because it was so pale, I even let the girls dye the ends of their hair. However sadly, Lily’s only took it a tiny bit and you can’t even see it on Megan’s.

Anyway, in between my two lots of hair dying, I also had to go out and collect the girls from school. As a treat we headed to Pizza Hut, just the three of us, for dinner. Sadly Lily’s pizza came burnt, so she ended up sharing mine. This turned out to be a good thing as a) it meant I ate less pizza (being on a diet and all) and b) Lily’s meal got knocked off the bill altogether and the girls both got free ice cream. Our total bill came to £9.98 which was pretty good all things considered.

In the evening, we dyed the girls hair as I mentioned, then we just hung out together. It was really lovely.

Saturday was yet another great day. The girls and I spent some time picking our Grand National horses, though sadly none of us won. My first ever Birchbox also arrived, which was actually pretty exciting! As well as that, some t-shirts arrived in the mail from TeeFury. This is a site I have posted about a million times before. The shirts were of course Karen Hallion designs (I’m a little bit obsessed) and after posting the picture on Instagram, I was so excited to see that Karen Hallion herself commented on my pic!

Chris came home just in time for the Grand National and so after that I made everyone dinner and then we settled down to watch the next installment of Harry Potter. This time we were onto Prison of Azkaban. The girls found it fairly confusing I think but they enjoyed it nonetheless.

Finally onto Sunday and gosh it was a dreary day. We had planned to go to the park with some of Megan and Lily’s school friends and I thought at one point it was going to get cancelled. However we did go and it was nice. The kids love to get out to the park and sadly I don’t take them very often. I also gave my camera a bit more of a trial run.

Afterwards we headed to my mum’s for lunch. Now it’s Easter Holidays I imagine we won’t head over that way very often so it was nice to call in while we had the chance. When we came home, the kids took some time to pack a bag for Daddy’s house and then we just relaxed for the rest of the day. I started a big cross-stitch project, which I will update about when I’ve got a little more done. Once the kids had gone off to their dad’s house, I settled down to some blogging and some TV. When Chris got home from work we caught up on more TV. We were tempted to stay up for Game of Thrones but honestly, I’m not that bothered. Besides we got up early this morning to watch it instead!