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Our Christmas and New Year

January 6, 2017 by Bel Leave a Comment

January is flying past and it feels a little late to be updating about Christmas. However we had such a great holiday period, that I don’t want to let it pass by without a mention. Also, with not doing a November or December round-up, I wanted to make sure I at least briefly covered that period of time.

Starbucks Christmas Cup

For some people, Christmas begins with the Coca Cola truck advert, but for me Christmas begins with Starbucks Red Cups. Sadly this is getting earlier and earlier every year (as are many Christmas things) which often results on the christmasy things being few and far between, instead of compact into a few weeks of December. Anyway, I won’t rant about that! So in November, Starbucks released their red cups and as a family we took a trip to get one (12th), each trying a different flavour (as is the tradition). Next came the Christmas Light switch on, November 18th, which has become tradition as a family too. We walk into town, look around the market and get food, then sometimes coffee too and then watch the light switch on and firework display. It started to rain this year which almost sent us home early but we stuck it out and actually really enjoyed ourselves.

Christmas Light Switch on selfie

This was really all the excitement for November and next came December. On literally the 1st, I started attending Lincoln Christmas Market. Usually we attend to visit, once during the four days its there, but this year I was actually selling there with Closet Geek. It was such a great experience, but very tiring and the preparation before hand was insane. I don’t regret it at all, but I won’t be doing it in 2017, partly because it falls too close to Megan’s birthday.

Lincoln Christmas Market Stall for Closet Geek

The following weekend was Megan’s birthday, which despite not being a Christmas event, often feels like it’s part of the celebration. On Saturday (the day before her birthday) the Coca Cola Christmas truck was in Lincoln so we traveled over to see that and get a mini coke can. The next day, Megan’s birthday, we took her and some of her friends, to Pizza Hut and then family joined us too, for a family lunch to celebrate.

After such a busy start to December (which Christmas Market, lots of school events – including a school disco that Megan got a date for! – and of course Megan’s birthday) we didn’t get time to put up the tree till 17th. Strangely enough this didn’t actually bother me as much as I thought it would, making me feel more Christmasy than when we put it up early.

Christmas Tree

As always, we put on the Christmas music cds, wear silly hats and glasses and put up the tree. Megan made us hot chocolate too and it was actually a lovely family event. Afterwards we sat and went through the TV pages to pick which movies we wanted to set to record.

The kids had two more days of school after the weekend we put the tree up and while this was a shame, as we were all ready to be on a break, it went fast and we celebrated as always, with a trip to Pizza Hut after school on the last day of term. This one in December always seems silly as we’re only there for Megan’s birthday a week or so before but we do it anyway! Later that week, the girls and I had to go to Doncaster for some last minute Christmas bits and pieces, so I treated them to a wash, cut and blowdry from Supercuts. I won’t tell you the exact price, but just for the two of them, it was over £50 (!!) which definitely surprised me but it was part of their Christmas treat so I didn’t let it bother me too much.

Christmas outfits

As part of the trip to Doncaster, we finished sorting out Christmas Outfits for the girls, as I already had my sorted from Simply Be. Their tops had come from Boohoo.com, we picked up their trousers at H&M, then I popped to ShoeZone on the way home and grabbed the boots. The following day we also picked up our Christmas Hamper from the girls grandparents (as is their tradition) so coming home and unpacking that was fun too.

christmas hamper

Soon it was Christmas Eve and that holds a whole host of traditions for us. First is, my mum and sister come around and we do Christmas Eve presents. That was edited a little this year as now both kids know about Santa and we don’t have to play it so young. We used to exchange Christmas PJs, Christmas Lush and a book to read for a bedtime story. However this year it was decided we wouldn’t wrap anything (as the kids know we do it as a tradition now and its just waste of paper) and instead of a book we would get a board game. When mum and Pippa arrived, we had hot chocolate, Baileys, a glass of sherry etc and as the girls were already having their traditional Christmas Eve bath, they got dressed into their new pjs. Afterwards, once Chris had arrived too, we played a board game and then finally mum and Pippa went home. After they were gone, Chris and I had baths, the girls did their reindeer food (some traditions don’t always need giving up!) and hung up their stockings.

Christmas Day was spent in the same way as always. The girls woke and came into our room, bringing their stockings with them. They took it in turns to open their gifts, before Chris and I did our stockings. Next we all got dressed and headed downstairs. We had crumpets and muffins for breakfast, plus tea and coffee for Chris and I. Next we opened the gifts under the tree, taking it in turns to each open one. Once all were opened, the girls played and opened some of their boxes/toys/gifts, while Chris and I sorted out rubbish, had another cuppa etc. Mum and Pippa turned up a little while later and we opened gifts between us all. Then we got in the car and headed to Chris’ Gran’s house, to see her and his dad. Again we exchanged gifts. We then headed to my brother’s house, where we would be having lunch. We exchanged gifts for the kids (as we had agreed not to do them for adults) and then had lunch. It was lovely and very relaxed. My mum then drove us home, but kept the girls with her as she later drops them off with their dad for the afternoon and evening. Chris played on his new Xbox game while I snoozed on the sofa, then in the evening we watched some TV. That was pretty much our Christmas Day.

Girls Christmas outfits

Boxing Day was a nice quiet day, with the girls arriving home and everyone just spending time with their new presents and relaxing. The day after, we had another family day but at my Auntie’s house and this was wonderful as I got to see my cousins for the first time in ages and I’m hoping it becomes another tradition. In the few days between Christmas and New Year, we didn’t really do an awful lot. We ate cheese, drank wine, watched movies, played board games and basically just hung out as a family. It was pretty fantastic.

New Year's Eve dinner

On New Year’s Eve, Chris was working till 6pm but then we had family time planned. We ate a huge cheese based dinner, drank wine (the girls had a little strawberry and lime cider) and spent time together. We opened our New Year resolutions from last year (and laughed because we failed most of them) then watched the music channel until midnight as there was nothing much on. At midnight we popped some fizz, had a toast, stayed up just a little longer and then finally headed to bed.

Happy New Year selfie

On New Year’s Day, my mum, sister, brother, his partner and her son, all came around for lunch. I made lasagne with garlic bread and salad, then served profiteroles with cream and ice cream. Afterwards we all played a great game on the Xbox called Jackbox.tv and had another lovely family day. That was basically our whole Christmas and New Year, both fantastic and hectic at times. The girls only had two more days off school after that, before they went back to school and then it felt like it was all a blur and Christmas was long forgotten! I’m looking forward to 2017 however and I hope that everyone enjoyed their Christmas period and is looking forward to the New Year too.

Filed Under: about me Tagged With: 2017, cheese, christmas, Christmas day, christmas eve, christmas market, Coca-Cola Truck, gainsborough, gifts, hamper, lights switch on, Lincoln, lush, Megan's birthday, new year's day, new year's eve, Pizza Hut, pjs, presents, school disco, starbucks red cups, wine

1/52

January 3, 2016 by Bel Leave a Comment

20160104080717.jpg

A new year and a fresh start to 2016! This is 1/52, the first of my 52 Project photos and it was taken on New Year’s Eve/New Year’s Day at midnight. This is the one blog project that I always enjoy sticking to, because its lovely to see just how much the girls change from year to year!

Filed Under: 52 project Tagged With: 1/52, 2016, blog project, Lily, Megan, new year, new year's day, new year's eve, photos

Week 1 – Monday Round-up

January 5, 2015 by Bel 2 Comments

I wasn’t sure if my Monday Round-up post was something I wanted to continue into the New Year, as I know its probably of no interest to anyone but me. However my blogging originally started as somewhat of a diary and even if only for me, I want to keep a decent record of everything I’ve been up to. I’m late making this post (as it’s actually Tuesday) but I’m going to cheat and backdate it to yesterday. Hopefully I’ll be able to keep up with my Monday Round-up posts in the future, although I have to admit that several were posted late last year!

Monday was still December (gosh that feels like a long time ago!) and it was also the last day Namu was here. We didn’t do much in the morning (the girls played on Disney Infinity), but by lunchtime we were heading off to Lincoln, in order for her to catch her train. Tragedy struck however as we got stuck in traffic, only minutes away from the station. There was nothing we could do and in the end, we missed her train by about 3 minutes! Speaking the people customer services desk, there was no chance of using her ticket on a later train and instead the only option was to pay another £45. Obviously Namu didn’t want to do this and although I felt partially responsible (since I was driving and we were late), I didn’t want to pay it either. In the end, we decided she should risk it. When she’d traveled up from London the week before, she’d been able to catch an earlier train, so we figured perhaps it would work the other day. Not to mention, her American stuck in the UK routine often seems to benefit! Luckily it all worked out and she text me to say that neither train had been a problem. I was very relieved! The girls and I had been to Burger King and grabbed some food as it was 2pm and we hadn’t had lunch. Afterwards we headed home and chilled out. We ended up watching Kung Fu Panda while waiting for Chris to get home. Honestly its so long away now, that I don’t really remember what I did in the evening – but it probably involved chilling out, catching up on all things online and maybe some TV watching too!

The next day was Tuesday and we had nothing planned at all. Chris was at work but the girls and I just hung around the house, doing our own thing. Again, I don’t really remember what we did (sadly) but the girls dressed up as that was their Disney task for the day and I’m pretty sure we tidied and sorted out the house. The only other noteable thing about Tuesday, was that it was a good post day. I got a Disney Traditions ornament I had ordered just after Christmas and also a necklace that I had bought for Amy. Again, with it being so long since, I don’t remember much more about the day! That said, I know we started to plough through Season 2 of Arrow, desperately trying to catch up.

Wednesday was New Year’s Eve and for the majority of it, Chris was at work. The girls and I went into town briefly, I had a few things I needed and also a parcel to collect. Megan also needed to buy a birthday present for her best friend, so we got that sorted too. I spent most of the afternoon, uploading pictures and sorting out my hard drive – exciting stuff! When Chris came home from work, we popped open a bottle of Prosecco and toasted in the New Year early (since we wouldn’t want to be doing that at midnight). I did however agree to wake the girls just before midnight, so we could all see in the New Year together. Chris and I spent the evening watching Arrow and eating chinese takeaway, right up until waking the girls at 11.40pm. At that point we all snuggled up on the sofa together and watched the countdown and fireworks at midnight.

ny

Ten past midnight and we all headed to bed. Chris was knackered and the girls had barely even woken up, so it worked out well that we all just wanted to go to sleep. In the morning I was up before everyone else. We had nothing much planned for the day again and so I hung out with the kids, bumming around till lunchtime. During the morning though we all made a list a New Year Resolutions. It was really just a silly thing that the girls and I were going to do but we got Chris involved too and we all wrote out a sheet of A4. In the end we debated either putting them up on the wall all year, to try and get as many done as possible, or placing them in an envelope. By majority vote, they all went in an envelope and we’ll be opening them on New Year’s Eve 2015, to see how we all did.

At midday we packed a bag for the girls as they were going to their dad’s. We had lunch and then put on a movie – or rather I put on a movie and both girls ended up getting sucked into it. At 2pm their dad came for them and once they were gone I finished off the movie and then went for a bath. I decided to get some more of “Allegiant” read and so even after my bath, I lay on the bed and read quite a lot of my book. While I was reading, Chris took a bath and then afterwards we watched more Arrow.

Thursday Chris was back at work and the girls didn’t need picking up until 2pm from their dad’s. As such I had a very relaxed morning before heading off to my mum’s for just after lunch. Stopping for a cup of tea and a chat, I then left to pick up the girls. We headed back via Lincoln and went to Toys R Us, only to not find what we were after. We ended up at Asda Living, where the girls got 2 new Disney Infinity characters and then we headed home. After getting some dinner, the girls and I spent some time sorting out their room. Lily has so many cuddly toys that we had to clear the whole of their drawer unit, just to make sure she didn’t sleep with them all in her bed.

At bedtime we finished off “In a Blink”, the first book in the series of Never Girls. Once the girls were in bed, I spent the evening trying to get some work done on dresses and my sewing stuff. I started by tidying out all my sewing box and then went on to google for some ideas of clothes I might make.

Saturday came around and another day of good old nothing. However we needed to make Disney themed food as our Disney task for the day and so we had waffles for breakfast/lunch. The girls dressed up (a catch up task from the day before) and I let them watch the end of the movie they’d missed a few days before. We then made Fajitas for dinner and settled down to watch Avengers as a family evening together.  Afterwards I worked on some jewellery ideas, ready to get listed on my Etsy as soon as I have time!

Finally it was Sunday and while we had nothing planned for the morning, it seemed to go by so fast. Megan had been invited to a friend’s house for the day (as a surprise treat) and was going to see Big Hero 6. I had also booked for me, Chris and Lily to go see Big Hero 6 at the same time. We dropped Megan at her friends at 1pm and then headed to my mum’s for coffee and to kill some time. At 3pm we headed into Lincoln, parked the car and headed to the cinema. We saw Megan in the foyer but tried not to interrupt her fun too much – even though she was full of how she’d traveled in a limo. We got popcorn and headed to our seats, watching Big Hero 6 in 3D – something we wouldn’t usually chose to do.

We loved the movie and I’ll definitely be writing my review of it, as soon as I get time! Afterwards we headed back to my mum’s briefly, before then heading to pick Megan up from her friend’s house (we let her travel back in the limo). On the way home, we all decided we were hungry. Chris bought us all fish and chips but we headed home to actually eat it. Once the girls were in bed, Chris went on his computer and I spent the evening on mine – getting ready for the big blog switch over! And here I am, all moved to WordPress.

I’m hoping life will normalise a little this week and that I’ll find it easier to keep track of. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Filed Under: Monday Round-up Tagged With: Big Hero 6, cinema, Disney, Disney infinity, dressing up, Lily, Megan, mickey mouse, movies, new year, new year resolutions, new year's eve, waffles

Disney Countdown – Days 93 – 87

January 4, 2015 by Bel 2 Comments

disneycountdown

I’m a little late making this post, this week – but I’m actually going to cheat a little and backdate it. It’s been such a busy week but so nice to have plenty of time with the kids!

Monday (93) – Dec 29th – Play a Disney game
Tuesday (92) – Dec 30th – Dress up Disney
Wednesday (91) – Dec 31st – Read Disney
Thursday (90) – Jan 1st – New Year’s Day (Disney Infinity)
Friday (89) – Jan 2nd – Dress up Disney
Saturday (88) – Jan 3rd – Make Disney themed food
Sunday (87) – Jan 4th – Watch Snow White Big Hero 6 movie

So this week, Disney Infinity has still been a huge hit. While we had all the plans to play some board games, Disney Infinity has won out when it comes to “play a Disney game”.  Both the girls have spent a lot of time on the Xbox this week, but certainly Lily the most! Tuesday was dress up Disney and Megan only having a few options, picked to be Tinkerbell, where Lily picked to be Ariel. New Year’s Eve was “read Disney” which was nice as we all got to read a bedtime story together to see out the end of the year. New Year’s Day came around and we had no specific task so the girls just got in more Disney Infinity. They both then headed off to their dad’s for the day and night, meaning that the following day they were back pretty late and realised they were supposed to dress up Disney. Since they didn’t have time, both girls picked to wear Disney nighties instead. However the next day they dressed up, as well as doing their next task.

On Saturday we were around to make Disney themed food again. As we didn’t have much in, I suggested Mickey Mouse shaped waffles. The girls weren’t too sure but they were a big hit in the end. For me, they were far too time consuming, taking over 5 minutes to cook each waffle! Finally that took us to Sunday when we should have been watching Snow White. However there was a one day preview of Big Hero 6 on at the Odeon and we couldn’t pass up that chance. We’ll have to catch Snow White another time!

This week also saw the 3 month mark for our countdown to Florida. I can’t tell you how much nearer it feels now. So exciting!

Filed Under: Disney Countdown Tagged With: Ariel, Big Hero 6, cinema, Disney, Disney infinity, disney themed food, dressing up, Elsa, mickey mouse, new year, new year's eve, Tinkerbell, waffles

Cards Against Humanity

February 21, 2014 by Bel 2 Comments

Cards Against Humanity is a brilliant, funny, witty and mostly… horrible card game!

What is Cards Against Humanity?  (From the CAH website):
“Unlike most of the party games you’ve played before, Cards Against Humanity is as despicable and awkward as you and your friends. The game is simple. Each round, one player asks a question from a Black Card, and everyone else answers with their funniest White Card.”
  

The game itself, is genuinely as simple as it sounds. Everyone gets dealt a handful of white cards (the answers) and these are used every round to answer the black cards (the questions, one selected each round). You can play with 4 people, or you can play it with 20 (or any in between of course – or more even). The basic jist is for one person to pick a black card and everyone else to answer with a white card. 

Sounds easy right? Well there is one catch… to play this game, you have to be a horrible person!

Source – Amazon

Now when I say horrible, I don’t really mean that you have to be horrible to each other in the game, or even to do horrible things. In all honesty, a better description would be that you have to have somewhat of a sick sense of humour.

We have a friend who pretty much thrives on sarcasm. He’s kinda dark by way of a personality and he’s definitely got a sick sense of humour. This game is the Christmas present that me, my partner and my brother all chipped in to buy him. As such, when the four of us decided to spend New Year’s Eve together, this was our entertainment of choice.

As you can see, the variety in answers is quite unique, as are the questions I assure you. I’ve been very careful not to post anything NSFW though, but some cards are quite risque.

The game was originally only available to buy in the US and the US versions are the main ones. However, there has always been a FREE downloadable version too, which you can find on the CAH website, or directly here. Luckily though, there is now a UK version, which you can buy from Amazon here. There are loads of expansions too, but unfortunately right now they are only US versions too. The great thing about the expansion packs are that you are given blank black and white cards, to make your own questions and answers. This adds your own personality and of course room for your own personal sense of humour.

When we played the game on New Year’s Eve, we ended up playing right through the whole black deck in one evening. Keeping score of a win (which of us had our white answer picked as the right/funniest answer), we found that all 4 of us came very close, meaning we clearly all have a similar sense of humour to one another and this made it a close call!

These are the recommendations on the back of the box. The one I’m sold by is Wil Wheaton. Everyone who knows me, knows I have a sort of respect/admiration/crush on Wil Wheaton, ever since he started his YouTube series, TableTop. He’s not wrong either, this is one of the best games I have ever played.

Since getting this game (or rather gifting this game to a friend) we have played it twice and he now owns all the expansion packs available too. This game is incredibly funny and also quite addictive, the only possible downside I can see to this, is playing with people that just don’t get the humour. But be warned, it really isn’t for the fainthearted…

Filed Under: product review Tagged With: board games, cards, cards against humanity, games, new year's eve, tabletop, wil wheaton

Hi, my name is Bel!


I’m a thirty something, mother of two, self-confessed geek!

Here on my blog you’ll find;
books I’ve read, clothes I’ve made, movies I’ve watched, cakes I’ve baked, products I’ve tried, places I’ve been, pictures I’ve taken… plus lots and lots of DISNEY!!

I’m a lifestyle blogger – covering a little of everything I love <3

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