Journeys Are My Diary

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

Happy 9th Birthday Lily

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Just a quick update from me today and I also know I’m yet to do my February Round-up. However I couldn’t let today go by without wishing my youngest daughter Lily, a Happy Birthday. We’ve had a lovely day that’s involved opening presents, muffins for breakfast, building Lego, eating at Pizza Hut for lunch, catching up with family and then chilling out. I’m actually quite sad the day is over but I think some of that is knowing tomorrow is Monday and the school run begins again!

So once again, Happy 9th Birthday Lily. I can’t believe how much you’ve grown and what a beautiful, funny and smart girl you’re growing up to be.

Our Christmas and New Year

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January is flying past and it feels a little late to be updating about Christmas. Christmas is just around the corner, day by day it is getting close, party everywhere, we have lots of activities during Christmas – watching, catching up with family or friends, eating and of course drinking! No one wants to have a party get drunk and then the next day hangover will hit you so hard, so be sure to buy hangover supplements from Hangover Hammer so the party can still continue up until the next day. 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 Christmas 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 made by fireworks airlie beach. Some people buy wholesale fireworks and use fireworks as a key part of demonstrations and festivities, and take the opportunity to put on spectacular displays.

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, like the ones that can be acquired from services like coffee machines rent.

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. I made the best decision in picking the best wine, seems like I am the best sommelier, I’m so happy. 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.

March Round-up

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I thought that doing a monthly round-up would be easier than doing a weekly one but seems instead that months just escape me and I end up so late doing my round-up! It won’t be very accurate, but here is my March.

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Watching: Catching up on loads of TV in the evening, as we only did DIY in the day. I/We caught up on SHIELD, Agent Carter, Flash, Arrow, Legends of Tomorrow, Grimm, Dance Moms, The Walking Dead, NCIS, Blindspot, X-Files, Gotham, Catfish, The 100, Limitless, Ink Master, Casualty, Holby City and probably more that I don’t remember. I also got quite addicted to watching old episodes of Gordon Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares USA.
Reading: Fantastic Mr Fox, Six Lies, Kingdom Keepers: Disney at Dawn, Fated,.
Sewing & Making (for Closet Geek): Several custom dresses with Disney fabric including; Inside Out, Jungle Book and Lion King. Also a Belle inspired dress and an Aurora inspired dress. An adult Alice in Wonderland dress. A Jessie Dress and Pinocchio outfit from my store listings. I made Aurora and Rapunzel bows on custom request too. Closet Geek was closed for 2 weeks for DIY though.

And in other news…
– Mum got back from New Zealand! After spending the whole of February away, it was really nice to have her back at the very beginning of March. I didn’t realise quite how much I missed her.
– Megan got accepted into her first choice for Secondary School. To be honest I had expected as much but considering 90% of her class/year at her school didn’t, it made me even more grateful. We took her out to dinner at NYC bar and grill to celebrate.
– World Book day was fun! Lily went as Harley Quinn and Megan went as Wenda from Where’s Wally/Waldo.
– Lily was in Shine assembly and it was also the last week for her teacher before going on maternity leave. It was a really sweet but sad moment in assembly and Lily even got to give Mrs Riley her leaving gift.
– Lily’s birthday happened! She turned 8 and honestly as usual, she just grew up overnight. We had a lovely day with birthday lunch out at Pizza Hut but relaxing for the most part. It’s always nice when a birthday falls at the weekend.
– It was a busy weekend with Lily’s birthday Saturday and then Mother’s Day on Sunday. It was lovely though and I was spoilt by the girls. I got a new Disney Tradition ornament and a new Disney Pop Funko too. We went out for lunch with my mum, my sister, my brother and his girlfriend and son too. It was nice to get together as a family.
– I finally edited the girls’ first YouTube video and it was pretty funny to watch. I have no idea when we’ll get around to doing another!
– Some MAJOR DIY took place in our house during March. We started with the kitchen floor on a day off but moved to finishing off the whole house during 10 days off that Chris had booked (and I closed Closet Geek).
– Chris’ birthday was mid-March. He’s way too laid back about doing anything on his bday so it was hard to figure out a fun day. In the end we played mini-golf in Sheffield and then went to Meadowhall where we shopped a bit and had Five Guys for dinner.
– Chris and I tried Cosmos for the first time. Cosmo is a chain restaurant of buffet food. However where most are Chinese and/or Indian, this one is sort of everything. You do still get Chinese and Indian but you also get English (like roast dinner stuff), Italian (like pizza and pasta), loads of nibbly bits like chips, onion rings, curly fries etc. Japanese (like Sushi) and so much more. On a lunchtime it’s £7.50 for as much as you want so it’s really not that bad.
– The girls broke up from school and we celebrated (as always) with Pizza Hut for dinner. It was nice as Chris was actually off work for a change so we all got to go together.
– We celebrated Easter at my brother’s house as it was also a birthday party for his twin boys. It was nice for the girls to get to spend time with their cousins and other kids their age – not to mention play out in the garden and have an easter egg hunt.
– I finished off the month feeling really ill. I totally burnt myself out with all the DIY and letting myself get tired. I was pretty ill for 2-3 days and then had a bad headache for another 1-2 after that. It sort of sucked after achieving so much with the house.

Looking forward to in April:
– Getting the house officially on the market was my main thing to look forward to in April. Since I’m late writing this post, this has actually already happened. We had the person around to take photos in early April, then the house went on the market and we got a copy of the brochure, then our “for sale” sign went up the very next day.
– Mum’s birthday. She’s actually away for her birthday (and I wish I was going to Storybrooke), but we’ll celebrate just beforehand I’m sure.
– Finding some time to work on new ideas for Closet Geek. After shutting the store for two weeks, it took about another week to get caught up. It’s been nice having the odd time here and there to try new projects and I hope to have some more this month.
– Time off with the girls. Most of Easter hols has been in April and as always I look forward to spending time with them. It’s funny how sad I feel when they go back now, rather than the relief I used to feel when they were smaller and more annoying!
– Honestly there isn’t much happening in April as far as I know so not much to look forward to!

Week 30 – Monday Round-up

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This week has been a fab week and I’m hoping there are more to come! I’ve been very well behaved with my diet which is giving the motivation to continue and that in itself makes some days easier! Also the kids broke up from school this week and that has been so nice, spending loads of time together but more importantly, not even needing to get dressed on some days!!

On Monday Megan didn’t feel very well and so the girls didn’t go to school. Sure it was a little naughty to keep Lily off too but we were all wishing we were on Summer Holiday already that we probably needed a day! We were incredibly lazy and did nothing all day. It was actually very nice. However I did manage to get some sewing done and finally finished the Briar Rose cosplay outfit I was working on for Amy.

On the Tuesday, the girls went back to school and Chris was off work so we had one of those days when we got all sorts of little bits done. We took his drum kit to a friend’s house as he was selling it, we went shopping, we went out for lunch and eventually we headed back to pick the girls up from school. It was a nice day but I’d hoped to get loads more sewing done and that didn’t happen! I did however manage a lovely long bath in the evening, a read of my book and an early night.

Wednesday was the girls last day at school, so we headed out with presents and cards galore. Chris was at work all day and I had website training for the Saxilby School website, round at my mum’s house. The training took all morning and then after everyone left, Mum and I had lunch. In the afternoon we headed down to storage to sort it out, as we’re hoping to hand the keys back next week. It didn’t take half as long as we expected so I headed back to mum’s for another cup of tea before eventually going to get the girls. Once I picked them up we popped to the post office, to get petrol and then eventually to Pizza Hut. This is fast becoming our end of term/summer tradition as we’ve now been to Pizza Hut every summer for about the last five years!

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When we were finished, we headed home and it was still pretty early (especially since the girls were now on holiday time bed time) and we all settled down to chill. Lily went on her computer, Megan her iPad and I sat down to finish off the book I had been reading on Kindle. When it was time for Lily to head to bed we read some James and the Giant Peach which was the current bedtime read. Megan went a while later and eventually Chris got home from work and we headed to bed not long after.

On Thursday we were all wanting a lazy day (though Chris was at work) and so we did a whole lot of nothing till midday. However we got lunch, got dressed and headed out in the afternoon to get Megan’s ears pierced. She was incredibly brave and I was honestly so surprised. I bought her some extra earrings for when her ears are healed and she is allowed to change them, and also some magnetic ones for Lily so she didn’t feel left out.

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Since we’d paid for parking anyway, we went to get coffee from Costa. Megan had a Mint Choc Chip, while Lily had Belgian Chocolate, mine was technically the only coffee as I had a Caramel Latte. We shared a mint choc chip cake too and it was delicious. After we finished out coffee we walked around for a little bit but then headed home. Once we were home we unpacked some boxes from my car and started to go through them. They were a mixture of photos, scrap books and cuddly toys, as well as a box of my old memories, dating right back to school and including school reports and letters I’d received from friends.

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The rest of the day was just spend doing out own things, relaxing or getting work done etc. Next came Friday and that started off fairly lazy too. However both the girls needed showers as they were going to their dad’s house and we weren’t sure what the situation was with showering there (they just moved house!). We grabbed showers, packed a bag and then their dad arrived to take them away. Next came a message from Amy to say her and Liv were on time with train and since Chris was going down to catch the train they were getting off, I walked down with him and waited at the station.

Once Amy arrived (and Chris left), we went to Aldi on the way back and then came home. We didn’t do an awful lot with the day, just occupied Liv and chatted to catch up on the last few weeks. Eventually Liv went to bed, we had jacket potatoes for dinner and then chatted some more. The wine came out and Chris arrived home with even more for us. We all sat watching YouTube videos for Five Nights at Freddy’s and it was really nice.

The next day I woke up because Chris had a driving lesson. I got up and started to make some bows for the girls to wear to the cinema that day, but sadly it didn’t work out! The day ended up a bit rushed – heading out to get the girls from their dad, mum getting a flat tyre, coming home to get changed and heading out to the cinema again. However in the end it all worked out and we made it to the movie on time!

Everyone loved Inside Out and I was so glad we’d booked to see it early. To be honest I wouldn’t be surprised if we ended up going to see it again! Once it was done (we stayed till the end but there was no extra clip!) we headed out and went for a walk around Scunthorpe. It wasn’t somewhere I had been before and I was curious as to what shops were available. We popped into Primark (and Chris did CEX) and then wandered back to the car. Even better it was free parking all day Saturday so I think it’s somewhere we would go again.

Picture taken from @livvybirdadventures Instagram

We came back home and once we’d settled, ordered takeaway. It was our one weekend treat but it was so good. There were burgers, chips, pizza, garlic bread and donner kebab. I was stuffed afterwards and knew I’d have put on several pounds! In the evening once everyone was in bed, Amy and I relocated to the dining room and I made the finishing touches to her Briar Rose dress (the zip and hem). After that we were all tired and so headed to bed.

In the morning, the kids all got up and since I stirred I figured I would get up too. Amy and I sat chatting as always and Chris went upstairs to play on his computer. Eventually I had to get the girls ready for going back to their dad’s for the day, so we left around 10.30am. By the time I came back, there wasn’t long before Amy needed to go, so we measured out the Wendy dress pattern so I could get on with that and figured out what else needed doing to her Snow White dress. After that I took Amy and Liv to the station, it was pretty miserable as it was raining. Once they had left, I went to Tesco and did some shopping, coming back and getting myself upset about how empty the house was!

Chris humoured me for a while so I wasn’t lonely but in the end I settled down to do absolutely nothing and just mong on my computer. The girls were back earlier than expected, so I had to figure out dinner for them. Chris went for a bath and the girls and I just spent the evening together. Finally the girls went to bed and Chris and I watched TV (well he did and I continued to do nothing on my computer). It was a nice end to a nice weekend but I’m looking forward to continuing on these nice days, for the next six weeks!

Week 50 – Monday Round-up

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It’s been a really great week this week, other than work of course. Having Megan’s birthday party out of the way was such a relief and its been nice to just concentrate on life and of course her upcoming birthday too. It’s also been fun keeping up with our Disney Countdown, which right now has made me feel strangely Christmasy too.

Monday to Friday was work and school for all of us. Chris is still training in his new job at BT, my job is still a nightmare and the girls seem to be enjoying school – especially as it begins to wind down for Christmas. The girls had Singing Stars after school so I took the opportunity to pop into town, specifically Primark. Sadly they still don’t have any of the things I want and I’d also headed there for vests and the choice was pathetic. When I finished shopping, I headed to pick up the girls and we headed home. After grabbing some food, we settled down to watch Beauty and the Beast (our Disney task for the day) and by the time it ended, it was time for Lily to go to bed. After that I spent the evening on my computer, doing some blog posts and relaxing for what felt like the first time in ages. I also spent two hours playing on my iPad which was rather novel!

Tuesday after school we headed straight home, possibly via Aldi I think. I was very excited to receive two parcels from Minted when we got home – which I will be posting about later in the week. The evening was yet again chilled, this time with Nat calling around. We spent the evening chatting, while also making some jewellery – something I never thought we’d be doing together again. I also baked Megan’s cake, ready to decorate the next day.

Wednesday it was Lily’s school play and I was really excited to go and see it. However we had time to kill between school and the evening showing of the play, so Megan, Lily, Kristy (my friend from work) and I, headed into town and saw the Coca-Cola truck since it was in Lincoln for the day. Honestly it was a little disappointing but I’m still glad we could see it.

When we got to the truck, there was no music, no nothing really – well except a big queue. We decided not to queue though, as it was only for a picture with the truck which we took ourselves. They were handing out free mini-cokes and we each got one. Afterwards we headed into The Entertainer, just to keep warm. After a little shopping, we went to Burger King and the girls got some food. We then dropped Kristy off before heading back to school. Lily went to get changed and Megan and I went to get good seats. We saved one for Chris, who mum was picking up from work and dropping off for me. At 6pm the play started and it was finished by about 6.45pm.

We got Lily changed and headed home, wrapping Megan’s present from her and writing the card before quickly packing her off to bed as she was tired. Megan stayed up a little later than usual too, to help me make a start on her cake, but then she went to bed at 9pm. I worked on her cake, on and off all evening, in between sorting out her presents, writing her card etc. while Chris was kind enough to wrap the presents. It was about 11.30pm when we headed to bed and I was exhausted!

Thursday it was Megan’s actual birthday and though I’d given her permission to wake us whenever, it was 6.45am when she woke us, only 15 minutes earlier than we would normally be up. Her first present from us was an electric keyboard which we’d set up downstairs for her to find. We also got her some loom bands, a Where’s Wally book and a Hidden Mickey’s book. Later that day a case and headphones for her iPad also arrived (late) and I gave her those after school. She got a number of other presents, which I mentioned in the post all about her birthday celebrations. It was a bit of a mad rush that morning, making sure we had everything ready for school and then Megan’s birthday dinner after school – clothes, cake etc.

We headed out the door, hoping we had everything, going to work and school. Afterwards I picked up the girls and Megan’s friend Alex, heading to my mum’s house to get changed. I grabbed a shower, while the others got changed and ready. We headed into Lincoln for 5.15pm, for our table booked at Pizza Hut. There we met up with the girls dad, his girlfriend and their other grandparents. My Chris also joined us after work. We had a very pleasant evening together and then all headed our separate ways home. The girls went to bed as soon as possible, especially Lily who was on her second late night.

After the girls were both in bed, Chris and I struggled to actually stay awake. We were both ready for sleep at 9pm, but I forced him to stay up till 10pm, finally caving and heading to bed. It was much needed sleep though as we both slept right through.

Friday was a good day. It was the last day of work for the week and also Megan’s birthday had passed so the main stress and worry was out of the way. We arranged to have Megan’s friend Katai over after school, but unfortunately she wasn’t quite ready for us to pick her up and her mum offered to drop her off. Instead we headed to Tesco for some food and then to pick up a parcel too. When we got in from all the various tasks, Megan’s Millies cookie had arrived and we all tucked in. Sadly it was a bit later than I had hoped but it had been her one request – a cookie with a birthday message on, to eat for breakfast. Of course, we didn’t eat it all, so that Megan could have some for breakfast the next day.

Katai arrived around 6.30pm, just after I’d put Lily to bed. Megan and Katai spent the evening watching movies, eating popcorn, crisps etc. It was about 11pm when they went to bed but they were sleeping separately from Lily so I wasn’t too worried. In the morning we didn’t really hear them too much, so it was nice to grab a bit of a lie-in. I think Lily had woken first and gone downstairs, the girls staying upstairs when they woke. Eventually when I got up, I told Lily she could go up and join them and even at that point they weren’t too loud. Chris and I had a cup of tea and went downstairs, but as soon as the girls came down, Chris disappeared upstairs to hide.

At round 12pm I sent the girls up to get dressed, Megan having decided she wanted to go out for lunch and then go bowling. However they all messed around so much that even by 1.30pm they hadn’t come back down. In the end I went up to get them and see if they still wanted to go out and since they did, we headed out to Woodcocks in Lincoln to have some lunch. It was 2pm when we got there but it was really busy. It took a while to order and then even longer for our food to arrive. I had called my mum to see if she wanted to join us for a drink and so she headed over and sat with us for the whole of the meal. After lunch we decided to treat the girls to desserts but these took ages to arrive, meaning we were cutting it fine for bowling. To Megan’s disappointment, we decided not to go bowling and instead went back to Mum’s for a cup of coffee and allowing Megan to have a little more time with Katai. However at about 5pm we headed home, dropping Katai on the way home.

Megan wanted to distract herself I think, so she set to work on her first peg doll painting – Elsa. Lily wanted to participate too but since it was a delicate task, we persuaded her just to paint a picture. Afterwards it was Lily’s bed time and while Megan stayed up a little longer, I got her to bed early too so she could catch up on some sleep. I spent the rest of the evening watching TV and wrapping presents. Eventually Chris came to join me and we watched some TV together, before heading to bed.

Finally came Sunday and we really didn’t have an awful lot planned. We managed a little lie-in but luckily I wasn’t too tired. The morning was relaxed and chilled out, eventually getting dressed around 10.30am, ready to go and see Chris’ Nan. We took a mattress to the tip, headed up to his Nan’s and stayed for a cup of tea. We then went to Morrison’s for a few bits of food, dropping off some tomatoes with Chris’ Nan after. We then went to Next and picked up a kettle I ordered, finally heading back home. I spent the afternoon catching up on X Factor and even last week’s I’m a Celebrity which I hadn’t found time to watch. I also started to order a few last Christmas presents, making sure I was definitely organised. The rest of the day was spent relaxing really. I watched TV with the kids and just hung out, then blogged a bit and hung out with Chris.

All in all it was a good week, feeling busy but relaxed at the same time. We’re rushing towards Christmas and genuinely I can’t wait. The kids have 4 more days of school and I have 5 more days of work. I’m looking forward to two weeks off and some time as a family. Roll on one more week – let’s get it out of the way and onto the happy days!

Megan’s Birthday

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I’m going to post later on today with my weekly round up but I felt like Megan’s birthday (and the celebrations generally) deserved a post of their own. Megan turned 10 last week and it feels like we were celebrating all week! The first sign of her birthday came on Saturday 6th, in the form of her birthday mystery party.

If you read my blog regularly, you’ll know I have been working on Megan’s party for quite some time. Not only did I agree to write her a murder mystery (without the murder) but I also ended up making four out of the eight costumes (four and a half if you count the costume my mum and I part shared). The first week in December was crazy busy – with the first 3-4 days being filled with writing the party and the rest being spent finishing off costumes that I’d been working on for weeks.

Though Lily’s didn’t quite get finished, Megan and Lily were young Anna and Elsa. I was pleased with their costumes and while I have a few additions to make, the girls were really happy to have “young” costumes, instead of the standard shop bought ones.

For Nat’s costume we had the great idea to do her costume part pink and part blue. It wasn’t quite how I pictured it but it turned out okay. Sadly Nat’s definitely didn’t get finished as it was missing sleeves, collar and the waist band. However it still gave the effect and I have promised I will finish it for her!

As Amy’s was the first I started, it was also the most finished. Missing only the collar piece, Amy’s dress for Snow White was otherwise complete. I was really pleased with it, especially the sleeves and I hope she was too!

Finally, my mum and I shared costumes. For Nat’s birthday, I had been the Evil Queen – knowing she would be the Evil Queen a week later for Megan’s. As such I was responsible for getting the cape, crown, balaclava etc. I didn’t really make any of it, except for ironing on white for the collar, to cover up the purple.

I didn’t get as much time to work on the food as I’d wanted – but we had a rough theme. There were Anna’s sandwiches, Anna and Elsa’s chocolate stack, Olaf”s carrot dip etc etc. Anything without a theme, feel under Sleeping Beauty’s bites. Megan asked if we could put blue food coloring in the lemonade and so that was our drink. As a “party bag” we bought Disney themed mugs for everyone (since everyone was a Disney character) and then placed a lottery scratch card in each. Sadly there was only one win and that was for £1. Megan’s Uncle Chris was nice enough to give it to Megan too.

The party went well and while it didn’t go quite as smoothly as I hoped, Megan and Lily enjoyed it and that was the main thing! That saw the end to Megan’s party, but certainly not the end to her celebrations.

On Thursday of last week, it was Megan’s actual birthday. Despite giving her free reign to wake me whenever she woke, it was only 6.45am when we got woken and we’re usually up at 7am anyway. Chris and I got Megan an electric keyboard, some Frozen loom bands, a Where’s Wally book and a Hidden Mickey’s book. Though it didn’t arrive until later in the day, we also got her a new set of headphones and a bag for her iPad. Lily bought Megan a Ravenclaw scarf and honestly she’s barely taken it off since.

As well as that, she got quite a lot of money from people, largely in dollars – ready for our Florida trip. I think at last check she had just over $200. On top of that she got a year’s membership to Movie Star Planet, a new dress, a novel, £20 for Next, £20 for Toys R Us, a board game and £10 in cash (I think that’s everything!!).

The day was spent at school and work but afterwards we all went out to Pizza Hut for a family meal. There was ten of us in total and actually it was really nice.

That saw the end of Megan’s birthday itself, but the celebrations still weren’t over!

On Friday night, Megan had her friend Katai over for a sleepover. Katai recently moved to Zambia, but she is back for Christmas. As such it was Megan’s one request, to have Katai over for the night and then spend the day with her on Saturday. The weekend started with popcorn, crisps, chicken strips, cheese bites and cherry coke, while watching movies. First we watched Enchanted and then The Game Plan. After that the girls went to bed. The next day we had a very chilled out morning and finally around lunch time I sent everyone upstairs to get dressed. God knows how, but it took them an hour to get ready and it was about 1.30pm before they were ready to go! We headed over to Lincoln with the plan to get dinner and then go bowling, but in the end it didn’t work out that way.

We went to a pub called Woodcocks for lunch and even though it was 2pm, the pub was still incredibly busy. It took an hour to get food and then because we ordered dessert too, it took almost two hours in total. When we eventually left, we went over to my mum’s for a little while, just so Megan could have longer with Katai. However we headed back after that, dropping off Katai on the way home. This officially saw the end to Megan’s birthday celebrations and now we’re moving on to Christmas! I can’t believe its only a week and a half away now!

Week 43 – Monday Round-up (a little late)

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All in all, its been a fab week. I honestly can’t believe how fast the week has gone though and sadly I’m left with only one more week of holiday left. However, rather than dwell on that, I’m going to tell you about the fun that this week has been!

Monday to Thursday, the kids were still at school and Chris was at work. I however, was OFF WORK all week. On Monday morning, Chris wasn’t at work so I left him in bed while I got up and took the girls to school. I headed straight back but by the time I was home, Chris was already up and watching daytime TV. We sat together for a while but then he headed upstairs to his computer and I just sat on my laptop, watching lots of terrible TV – mostly “Say Yes to the Dress”. I made chicken korma for Chris’ lunch, but also so it was ready for me and the girls to have for dinner. Chris then left for work at around 1pm and I continued on with my day of total relaxation, whilst procrastinating terribly about a job application I had to fill in. I headed out to pick the girls up from school around 3.45pm and after picking them up from their Singing Stars, I popped to meet my brother at the garage, to look at a new car he was thinking of getting. Biggest news of the day was that Lily finally lost a tooth which has been wobbly for ages. She looks so funny though bless her.

After that the girls and I headed home and got some dinner. Lily read her reading book, Megan went on the DS to practice her Brain Training and then I went back to watching “Say Yes to the Dress” (haha, I know… sad isn’t it?). Once Lily was in bed I finally got my butt into gear and worked on my CV. Mum had left me loads of notes and changes she thought I should make, so I ploughed my way through that before starting on my cover letter. It took the majority of the evening, being almost midnight by the time I completely finished, but I have to admit I was pretty pleased with it when I was done. Chris had arrived home just before 11pm and had sat playing his Xbox in order to let me finish what I was doing. We headed to bed just before midnight and then as the clock struck 12, wished each other a “Happy Anniversary” before getting some sleep.

Tuesday was another great day. It started off by receiving a letter from my Mum who said she liked my CV and cover letter. She passed comment that she would hire me even without an interview and that was nice to hear. I then got up to find that Chris had left me a card – it was our 2 year anniversary of getting together and I was very touched by the sentiment of what he wrote inside, plus the humour of the card itself.

I then took the girls to school and headed off to my mum’s house as she’d asked me to put some bread in the freezer. I think possibly she’s going crazy as there was no bread insight so either she imagined even having it, or she’d put it in the freezer herself before going away! After that I nipped to Tesco for Petrol and Asda to collect a parcel. I popped in to see Chris too and stayed with him for about twenty minutes. Eventually I headed home and ran a bath. I added Lush to make it extra special! I then made myself a cup of tea and climbed into the bath for a long soak. Finally I headed upstairs to get changed and risked trying on a pair of size 14 jeans. They were snug but they fitted properly and I was so incredibly chuffed!

I headed back downstairs and spent the next few hours sorting out tickets for the cinema, writing up another blog post, replying to emails and so on. Chris was due home around 2pm and then we were heading straight out. When he got back, he got changed and then we headed back to Lincoln. We parked in Lucy Tower and headed into the Odeon, with tickets to see The Maze Runner. I’m sure I’ll actually write a review at some point but it was really great and much better than I had even expected. After the cinema we walked a little way down the round to the Handmade Burger Company and had dinner there.

 The food was amazing and as always it was nice to get out with just Chris for a while. We weren’t long eating dinner though as I’d offered to pick the girls up from their dad on the way home so we called in at Saxilby and got them. When we were home and the girls were in bed, I settled down to finish off my job application form, knowing it needed to be in the next day. Sadly it all went a bit pear-shaped and instead of it being a thirty minute job, it ended being a two hour one. Chris and I had been supposed to spend the evening watching TV but in the end Chris was too tired by the time I finished so we just headed to bed.

Wednesday started off quite busy. Lily was having a superhero day at school so we had to get her ready for that. Megan was going to a party after school so we had to make sure we had everything together for that too. As we dashed out of the front door, I luckily remembered my job application and we all headed off to school. After dropping the kids off at their classrooms I headed to the office to drop off my form. I genuinely felt a lot lighter after it was done. I headed back home and waited for Nat, who was coming over for the day to work on some stuff we had planned. We had a very productive day, stopping only to get some lunch from Morrisons and then later in the afternoon when a cake delivery arrived.

We both headed off to get the kids around 3pm and although I was only picking up Lily, I met up with Megan too to get her changed and organised ready for the party. She headed off with a huge group of friends – to go to a recording studio and then to Pizza Hut – while Lily and I headed home. We spent a really nice evening together and then eventually at about 6pm Chris arrived too. After Lily was in bed I headed out to get Megan but unfortunately they were running late and it was 8pm before I managed to get on our way home. When we got back Megan went straight to bed and Chris and I settled down to watch The Walking Dead and Gotham, which we’d been meaning to do the night before. After that we just headed to bed, since Chris was up early again the next morning.

Thursday was another busy day, again spent completely with Nat as we worked on stuff together. I’d picked her up because of her having no car which meant we needed to leave enough time for me dropping her off again when we left for school. After dropping Nat off I headed to school to pick up Lily but I wasn’t getting Megan as she was going to her friend Alex’s house for dinner. Instead Lily and I headed to the storage unit to pull out a few things and also put some things in. After that we went to my mum’s to meet my brother and we waited for him there so we could go down and help him pick up his new car. Once we were all done with that, the three of us headed to Pizza Hut and had dinner. This was largely to waste time before picking up Megan but also since Megan had been the night before, it was nice to treat Lily. After we were finished with dinner we swung by Chris’ work just to say hi and then headed to Saxilby to pick Megan up. Finally we all headed home, along with my brother who was coming to spend the evening watching OUAT. Eventually he went home and Chris arrived back from work. We headed to bed almost straight away though as we were pretty tired.

Friday was the beginning of our long weekend away and as I’m going to post about it separately, I’m not going to add it here. Not only that, but this post is already much longer than my weekly round-ups usually are, largely owing to the fact I actually did stuff, with not being a work. Keep an eye out for my weekend round-up, coming soon!