2O13 recap

A little look back at my 2O13

- Issy turned 5

- Daisie turned 2

- Me & Andy celebrated our 4 years together
- I became a godmother

- The girls were bridesmaids at one of my best friends weddings

Pictures stolen from my instragram view on my laptop

you can follow me on instragram here

Peppa pig bath fizzer

My girls are serious bath bomb addicts

so when I saw Christie's post on instagram of the peppa pig bath fizzer with free toy inside

I just had to track one down for Daisie, when I stopped looking for awhile i came across

some in my local asda so of course in my trolley it went.

The girls loved waiting to see what character they had got, 

The main downfall to this bath fizzer was it brought Daisie out in a rash :(

If it didn't give Daisie a rash I would definitely buy this again

I may buy it again just for the figure inside and let the girls watch it fizz in the sink.

Christmas 2O13

This christmas we had our early christmas at Andy's mums on the 21st.
Christmas day we spent the morning at our house opening presents, Me & Andy put together all the ones that needed to be put together while the girls played and then we tucked into our presents.

We had Christmas dinner at my mum & dad's house in the afternoon

and the evening was with the girls playing with their toys while me and Andy sat back and relaxed

Early Christmas 

Christmas Eve

Christmas Day

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and Santa was good to them.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

MERRY CHRISTMAS

To all my wonderful blog readers, hope each and every one of you have a wonderful day tomorrow.

Lots of love Me & My little family

Review - Luxury lush pud

I purchased a few of the LUSH Christmas items and have been very disappointed with them

they left my bath a sticky/slimy feel and it was a nightmare to get rid of, My girls had the others in their bath and their bath toys have been left the same way so they'll need to be left in some scalding water and scrubbed :(

BUT

This bath bomb is one of the most amazing ones I've tried, I'll certainly be stocking up on these if I see any in the sale and will be buying some next year too.

The smell is just perfect not to over powering but enough to notice, The colours are gorgeous and it leaves the bath a lovely purple colour it was like sitting in a jelly mixture.

I couldn't capture the true colour but if Icould bottle it up and display it I would.

After my bath i settled on the sofa to watch hollyoaks and i was just instantly relaxed and fell asleep which resulted in missing hollyoaks I only woke up because Andy called my name while being right near my face making me jump.

After checking the ingredients I realized it had lavender oil in, No wonder I was snoozing within 1O minutes of getting out of my bath.

Where did my babies go?

Today my youngest little lady used her potty all day all of her own accord in the morning she decided today would be a potty day and she stuck with it all day. With hair now down her back that falls in lovely curls she finally allows me to brush it and make it look pretty for her, She'll be turning 3 and starting nursery next year :'( 

My eldest little lady turns 6 in around just 3 weeks!

She got a little make-up set at our early christmas at my partners mums 

she hasn't left it alone since she got it, reapplying her lip balm and nail varnish once she's finished dinner or done something that's chipped it.

D.I.Y Magic santa key

You'll need

- MDF key shape

- PVA glue

- Glitter

- Confetti snow

The beard to santa isn't attached so that needed to be glued on
 (I probably should have decorated that before gluing it on)
I guess it's pretty obvious but anyway here we go
Use a brush to put on a layer of PVA glue all over the part you want to add glitter/confetti snow to,
then add some glitter and wait for it to dry :)

BARGAIN of the week

One of my bargains of the week has to be this Mamas & Papas urbo dolls pram :) 

I managed to get this for a bargain of £24.99 from £54.99!!! from Argos

I also got a Mamas & Papas luna dolls pram for £20 from £39.99 from ELC

so excited to see the girls faces on Christmas day :)

#Silentsunday

My fave places to shop this christmas

I've got myself loads of bargains this Christmas, so I thought I'd share some of them 

with my lovely blog readers.

1 -  SMYTHS

I managed to get a barbie mariposa doll  £14.99 

baby born interactive doll  £26.99

baby born I can swim £19.99

i'll be ordering a few more bits from here this week

2 - The Entertainer 

Lalaloopsy silly hair £19.99

Lala-oopsie little mermaid doll £1O

Mini lala-oopsie mermaid dolls £3 each 

3 - Superdrug

I popped into superdrug the other day just to have a peek and was amazed by the bargains, I left with a bag full. Many items I got mainly bath and body wash sets were £2 & £3

Needless to say I'm heading back there this week for some more.

4 - Wilkinsons

I grabbed a few perfect bargains in wilkinsons this year 

I got a rocking crib - £13

metal shopping trolley £15

wooden sandwich set £7

5 - Asda 

Wooden farm set £2O

wooden cake stand and cakes £9

deluxe set of dolls clothes £6

 6- Ebay 

We can't go leaving ebay out now can we, Ebay has many bargains hiding.

7 - Studio catalogue

Fluffy go walkies £19.99

Washing line set £5.99

Wooden tea set £8.99

Places I'm yet to have a splurge in 

Disney store, ELC and another shop with Smyths & the entertainer 

I will update this post with pictures of my bargain items once I get enough time to dig them all out without the girls catching me :)

Christmas eve bags

This was abit of a last minute idea after seeing so many of them around on blogs & instagram 

I thought it was such a great idea and amazed I never thought of it before

and I forgot I had bought some disney princess christmas bags last year so they 

were going spare this year, The girls go to my friends on christmas eve to open their presents 

(very lucky girls they get 3 Christmas' in total)

So once they get home they will get to dive into their Christmas eve bags :)

 In their bag they will have

- Jarmies

- Large chocolate coin

- Book 

- Hot chocolate sachet with marshmellows & a candy cane

- A mug 

- Fluffy socks/slippers 

- A christmas teddy 

- Their christmas plates ready to take to nanny & grandads to have their dinner on

- a bathbomb 

A dvd for us to watch together if they aren't home to late once they've had their Christmas with their Aunties.

LUSH Haul

During the week I made my first ever online order with LUSH and it arrived this morning, 

Of course I had a peek in the book that came with my order and I've seen a 

whole lot more I want to get my hands on so I'll be heading to a store 

or making another online order ASAP.

I ordered 

space girl bath bomb

snowman

the melting snowman

luxury lush pud

magic wand bubble bar

bombardino

I really wanted to get my hands on the penguin but he was unavailable when I made my order :(

I'll be buying another magic wand as they are a stocking filler for the girls.

D.I.Y christmas count down blackboard

As you may have guessed by now I like to give things ago if I can, If it's crafty and doable

 myself I'm right there with my mits tucked into it. 

This craft is a D.I.Y Christmas count down blackboard for the girls 

You'll need

MDF chritmas shape (I went for a reindeer)

Black board paint (I used the spray paint kind you can get a tin)

 Glitter optional

String/ribbon

 Ribbon for his collar again totally optional 

PVA  glue

I purchased my MDF shape & black board spray paint from eBay

My string & glitter are from  Wilko's

My string has gone walkies so I can't hang this little guy up yet but as soon as I've found it and his set up in his place I''ll grab a picture of him in action :)

The Christmas TAG

1.  Do you prefer a real Christmas tree or synthetic?

I've never had a real tree but once I'm on the road I'd love to go and pick one out with my little family

2.  You're in a coffee shop, it's December, what do you pick?

I don't like coffee, So if i was in costa it would have to be a hot chocolate instead

3.  Whats your favourite colour scheme for decorating the tree?

I like to change my colour scheme every year but the traditional Christmas colours are always a fave, this year I'm going for red & creams

4.  Giving or receiving?

Of course I love opening some presents myself but seeing my love ones smile while opening theirs is always a winner

5.  To mince pie or not to?

Ooh no not for me

6.  What's your traditional Sunday lunch?

It's got to be chicken/turkey, plenty of brussel sprouts,peas,cabbage,yorkshie puds,tatoes,piggies in blankets,stuffing, plenty of gravy, mince sauce

7.  Christmas day fashion

If we are having Christmas dinner at ours it's new Christmas pyjamas if we are having dinner at either of our parents it will be a new outfit i've brought in just for Christmas day or clothes we received for Christmas

8.  What's your favourite Christmas song?

My all time favourtie is Fairytale of new york - The Pogues, I'd listen to it all year round if I could

9.  What's your favourite Christmas film?

Elf, The Grinch and it goes without saying NBC

10.  Open presents before or after lunch?

Before but there always has to be one or two put away for after lunch just like I used to have when I was younger

I found this wonderful tag over on Fee's blog - http://www.makeupsavvy.co.uk

If your reading this your TAGGED

Cheap and cheerful christmas decorations

I'm a huge poundland & 99p store lover!

You'll find me in there everyday once I've dropped Issy to school hunting for some new bargains

I've found some real amazing Christmas decorations this year many if I'd have come across them on instagram the last place I would have thought they came from would be poundland/99p store.

I've come across them on eBay going for a lot more than £1/99p

I'm going for a shabby chic theme this Christmas
I also have a felt bunting that I didn't managed to get a picture of as I took it off my wall to move it and it's got tangled but I'll untangle it soon and get a picture

The reindeer is covered in iridescent glitter with red bells - 99p store

The stars came in a pack of two - poundland

pack of 1O bells - pounland

felt bunting - poundland

card bunting - poundland

and the pack of three decorations both came from poundland

I aim to get back over to the 99p store asap as they had gorgeous stuff in but I went over for Halloween decorations so couldn't go as crazy with the Christmas stuff as I wanted  

Christmas craft/bucket list

Decorate goody bags

Make christmas cookies

Make a christmas tree from loo roll tubes

Make feet print reindeers

Make felt Christmas trees

Visit Santa in his grotto

Go see the reindeer's

Make Christmas cakes 

Decorate baubles

Make hand/feet art

Make a wreath 

Write a letter to Santa

Decorate our tree
Make decorations out of the ends of bottles

Christmas Crafts

With Christmas nearing I'm stocking up and hunting for all sorts of crafty fun to do with the girls, This morning I hunted pinterest for some ideas and created a Christmas crafts board you can find my board here

On my board you will find all sorts from hand/foot/finger print creations, paper plate creations, Qtips creations, puzzle pieces, beads and more.

We've been to see santa

Last night me, the girls & one of my good friends Tasha went to see Santa in his grotto, all courtesy of my wonderful friend she paid for us to go as a treat for the girls (what lucky girls we are). 

Before entering Sanats grotto each child was given a Grotto passport with 3 different things to complete to collect a stamp and the very last thing was to get a sticker from santa (pictured below)

The first task at Santas grotto the girls had to do some singing before entering (the reindeer pokey, I'll post the lyrics further down) And Santa's elf said they had to help save Christmas because some pesky rats had chewed open all the presents Santa had just finished wrapping, So once they go through the doors to the beginning of Santas grotto they had to snowball the pesky rats. 

Once the rats had been snowballed they got to go through another step of the grotto and got to decorate their own Christmas decorations.

 After the Christmas decorations had been finished it was time to head through to Santa's kitchen to make some magic reindeer food to help the reindeer's know where to stop.
Once The magic Reindeer food was finished it was time to head through to Santa but he had fallen asleep, so they had to shout to wake him up, Once he was awake they got to chat with Santa then it was time to clap 2 times and the presents for each child came down the chimney. After they had all received their presents it was time to tell Santa what they would like for Christmas and had a chance to have a photo with him, Daisie wasn't interested in getting in a photo or talking to Santa because silly me forgot her cuppy, she was super tired and just wanted to strip Santas Christmas tree so we only managed to get a picture of Issy with him.

Us adults also got a little present we each got a Christmas tree to grow, Each child had to go and get one and take it over to whoever had taken them to see Santa, Issy grabbed one but I told her to give it to Tasha as she had paid for the whole thing, Shortly after Daisie followed all the others grabbed her one and brought it over to me saying thank you :') I could have burst into tears of pride she seemed so grown up and apart from Daisie running off every now and then the girls were so well behaved.

Reindeer Pokey Lyrics 

I loved this so I can imagine your little ones would love it too :)

 (to the tune of the hokey cockey!)

You put your antlers in,

You put your antlers out,

You put your antlers in,

And you shake them all about.

You do the reindeer pokey,

And you turn yourself around,

That's what its all about!

Whoooaa the reindeer pokey,

whoooaa the reindeer pokey,

whoooaa the reindeer pokey,

hooves in, tails out

RA RA RA!

Ah the terrible two's

You've just got to love this stage right?

The terrible two's have recently arrived, I suppose we were quite lucky as more often than not it's usually before they've even turned two that they start.

 Daisie's at that stage were you daren't say the word no or it's a fall to the floor kicking and screaming situation, Bed times a great game of musical beds to play jumping into her sisters bed as she's trying to sleep, she's worked out how to open the bedroom stair gate so she likes to come down and let us know how proud she is that she done it, If she asks for a drink/food it has to be her way and immediately if you've altered it in anyway or ran out of her favourite juice/snack your going to know about it, take something off her shes not meant to have is a throw whatever is near by and then herself to the floor, If she wants it she MUST have it even if her sister had it first

Writing this I realized she might sound like a really spoilt little moo but trust me she is told no
and the naughty step is being introduced now that she understands what its all about

Christmas scents

Of course it's filled with Yankee candles ;) But a air freshener alternative which I love is spiced apple by Glades it smells delicious last year you could get them in packs of 2, I was originally naming this winter scents but as they are all from the Christmas section Christmas scents seemed a more fitting name. I'd love a small or medium Jar of one or two of the scents but most I'd be happy with a votive as I'm starting to get quite a collection and I'm still no where near the bottom of my medium Jar I got earlier on in the year, I didn't want to light it and ruin it (I only ever burn tealights and keep all pretty ones unlit) but Andy wanted me to light it so it was lit.

Whens to old?

Recently Andy suggested we get Issy a little more stylish and not so smothered in character stuff like hello kitty, Minnie mouse etc as he's concerned she may get bullied at school, Everyone has the usual black/navy coat, biker jackets, parker jackets and generally really cute stylish coats and there's our little Issy in a pink coat covered in hello kitty's. It's cute but of course having your child bullied is every parents worst nightmare. I'm terrified she may start having other kids call her a baby or comment on the fact her clothes are a bit babyish at times but at the same time I want her to know if she likes and she's happy others opinions really don't matter,  I know shops sell character clothes for older girls but they have more of a stylish design to them and aren't so child like, Of course I don't want to take her childhood away and make her grow up to quickly either, I see plenty of other little girls the same age as Issy looking super cute and very stylish with their little bun doughnuts in, big bows, little bags etc

So I'd like other mummy opinions are we panicking to much? 

she will be 6 in January

I think we should opt for the more stylish designs of characters and not the so toddler looking designs which fixes the problem altogether she's not having her childhood ripped away, she's stylish and she's happy

My very own fairy blogmother

If you popped by my blog a little earlier you may have noticed I had made a total mess of it, I thought I'd try and be a bit clever and give my blog a new fresh look and totally failed at it!
So I ran straight to my fairy blogmother who I knew would have no problem fixing my mess and would give my blog the lovely refreshing look it needed and she did exactly that :) Thank you so much once again you've given me an amazing looking blog, I must drive you mad wanting it changed every other month but you can't beat a fresh look can you :)

You can find my fairy blogmother here

Chirstmas has landed at dunelm mill

Today I received an email from dunelm mill tilted Christmas crackers and it was full of their Christmas range, I couldn't help but take a peak on the website, here's a few things I'd love to add to my Christmas box this year.

You can find the full range here

Dry like me potty training pads

I saw these on offer in asda so grabbed them to give them a go now that Daisie is preferring to wear pants/pull ups instead of nappies now, She's still terrified of the potty and toilet but seems to be okay on the one we have in our living room, she'll sit and do all the noises but so far no actual toilets on it. These cost around £2.5O I think it was, I'm yet to give them a try but I think Daisie will like the fact she will have big girls knickers on just like her sister :)

Each pack is unisex and contains 18 pads and a FREE pad pouch for changes while you are out. 

I think it's a great idea that you can turn all pants into training pants just like the box says.

I will do another post on how we get on with them soon

Peppa pig - Multivitamins

I spotted these in asda for £1.5O and they seemed perfect for getting some vitamins into Daisie with her being a peppa pig fanatic and them looking just like packets of sweets.

Each box contains 7 sachets and each sachet has 3 peppa pig heads in and have come in a variety of flavours Apple,Blackcurrant,Orange & Strawberry

each sachet has VITAMINS A,B,C,D & E

You can also get Multivitamins Gummy George pigs, Vitamin C gummy peppa pigs & Calcium + Vitamin D gummy peppa pigs.

So far so good Daisie thinks they are sweets and always asks for another pack, Issy how ever heard they were vitamins had a pack and wasn't keen so I'll be seeing what else I can get for her and will be keeping the vitamin part secret, I'll definitely be stocking up one these on my next food shop

Fun christmas ideas

Something great to do with your kids or grand kids for Christmas season. Buy 25 books, wrap them and place them near the tree with a fluffy blanket and stuffed toy to cuddle with. Every evening they get to take one of the books and open them and you spend some time reading to them and cuddling.

I can't wait to give each of these a go :) 

DISCLAIMER: I take no credit for these ideas, each I came across on facebook through friends sharing them. 
 

The pre christmas clear out

Let the fun begin....

Even tho I've been clearing out all through the year the whole house still seems ridiculously cluttered :( I throw black sacks out/send them to charity every other week and it just doesn't seem to make a difference. I've given so much away I'm now giving eBay a go so I can at least get a few ££'s to put towards the Christmas shopping as it really isn't that far away, Half of the girls stuff isn't worn/used so it's worth a shot.

The girls room still looks like it's been turned upside down I still need to grab them a wardrobe/s and a bookcase as well as some new beds each  but with Christmas round the corner they will have to wait for a bit.

We've had the tooth fairy visit

Issy lost her first tooth on the 28th October and her second wobbly tooth has finally made it's exit :) her new teeth have already come through behind the wobbly ones slightly. She got £1 for her first tooth even tho she forgot to put it under her pillow before she went to bed, She also had £1 from the day before as a treat when she realised she had £2 once she had put both of them together she gave one to her little sister so they both had £1 to spend at the shops :')

Do you have any tooth fairy traditions?

 I'd love to have a little tradition for the girls as they grow up but I'm totally clueless on what atm