A labour of love…

November 9, 2014sirene321 1 Comment

I am no baker by any stretch of the imagination. Fairy cakes and your usual sponge is about my limit. Every year, however, without fail I am determined to make my kiddiewinks a cake. Kiddiewink 1 has always put in requests, and always likes me to make it. Kiddiewink 2 on the other hand, couldn’t give a monkeys. Despite this, I set myself my biggest challenge yet… A deep sea diver cake.

After lots of searching I came across one on a cake blog, it had instructions for some bits which made it much easier. For the sea creatures, I printed a template and then cut around it.

I am so proud of my scuba diver, I gave him a name… I had to make him a few days ago so he could harden, and I christened him ‘Sid’. Nobody is eating him ever!

Covering the cake was a nightmare, and due to not having enough hands it broke, some folded onto the chocolate buttercream and there was very nearly tears from me. Luckily, with a lot of delicate jiggery pockery, I covered it. I had no more so I was determined to try and salvage it. I am still a bit gutted about how that bit turned out but I am really pleased with the rest of it. To be honest, I am pretty useless with arts and crafty things, so this really was a challenge, and although by no means perfect, I am convinced and happy that Kiddiewink 2 will love it. ( He better had do, it cost enough time and money to make haha)

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Desperate for glasses…

October 30, 2014sirene321 Leave a comment

Kiddiewink 1 is desperate for glasses and once she spotted her brothers lenses had fallen out, she seems to have bagsied them for herself.
“If I have pretend glasses on at the Halloween party, can you tell my friends they are reading glasses. I want you to tell them that, can you?”
“But you haven’t got any pretend glasses”
She then held up her brothers glasses without the lenses haha.

She then insisted on wearing them to the bonfire, with a tutu donated by a friend! She looked cracking lol.

She wore them all weekend and I was just hoping the novelty would wear off, luckily but Monday she seemed to be over it, and they have not been put on again!

Adventure Babies

October 27, 2014sirene321 1 Comment

Kiddiewink 3 and I embarked upon a six week block of adventure babies for the period just before I went back to work. I fancied doing a class, and knew I wouldn’t be able to continue it from the onset.
I know you don’t really need ‘classes’ but I just wanted a special time for me and my ickle baby to bond before returning to work. This class seemed ideal as it was messy fun, but not in your house!
Even as a teacher myself, I know about using cornflour, porridge oats, spaghetti etc but do I do it? Do I heck! In my head I want to do all these things but I never actually get round to doing them.

Adventure Babies is relatively new class, currently running in South Manchester, for sitting babies to about 18 months. Each session is themed around a book such as the Gruffalo, Rainbowfish…During the story the babies have a bag with objects to explore using all the senses. All the babies listen amazingly and love playing (or chewing) the objects and watching the other kiddiewinks. After the story there is chance to explore the different bases, again all themed to the story. We particularly liked the alien slime (jelly) and the snow (cornflour).

Before leaving there another activity together on the Mat and a song.

All in all great fun, and well worth doing! I am so glad I decided to do it with her, something nice for us To do together, before the return to work.

I heard about it through Mums in the Know (MITK) and got a free trial. It is certainly worth giving it a try.

For more info, contact Emma at www.adventurebabies.co.uk

Proud Mummy Alert

October 27, 2014sirene321 Leave a comment

KW1 took part in a frozen workshop today and actually took part in the show at the end! This is major leap for her and I am chuffed to bits for her! All credit to YSBD’s team, no one else as ever got her performing to an audience. She was stagestruck in a class assembly, bless her! She enjoys practising, she doesn’t like the shows. Only the other week, she stated very firmly that the only shows she would ever do, were the stupid shows she had to do at school.

After the photoshoot with Starwinkle Photography yesterday, she announced if she was brave enough to have her photo taken, she was brave enough to perform in the show. She woke up today convinced she was going to perform and she wanted me to watch. I peeked in before leaving school at lunchtime, she was crying and telling Hannah she didn’t want to do the show, she then clocked me and said the same. Reassured she didnt have to do the show, she carried on rehearsing, safe in the knowledge mummy wasn’t coming to the show, instead her best friends mum was taking her home.
Well, seems under the influence of YSBD, she happily performed. My friend videoed the show for us, I actually think had I gone, she would probably have got tearful and said she wasn’t doing it. She was so excited to show me the video and hasn’t stopped talking about it and demonstrating all the songs. Bless her; tuneful she isn’t! From doing the workshop KW1 has gained in confidence and self-esteem, so happy for her! I highly recommend looking out for other workshops in school holidays, kiddiwinks will love it.
One proud Kiddiewink and one proud Mummy.

YSBD workshop Ltd videos

YBSD workshop Ltd facebook

The workshop was run by YSBD Workshops Ltd (You Should be Dancing) and my little girl had a great time. Lots of singing and dancing, marshmallow olafs, and Olaf snowball throwers. The show was excellent by all accounts and on all the photographs the children look to be having lots of fun.
Play Video

Sent from my iPhone

Housework with small children = nightmare!

October 12, 2014sirene321 3 Comments

My weekend trying to get stuff done last week really tested my patience. It doesn’t help that I am definitely not a Domestic Goddess and tend to flit about. To be honest I really just can’t be bothered with it! There is so much else I would rather be doing. The fact I dislike it too, is probably picked up on by my kiddiewinks and I am sure it makes them worse. Here are just a few examples I how they ‘try’ to help…

Tidying their room
Suddenly they want to play, Kiddiewink 2 in particular. He likes to get toys out as his sister is putting them away. They are so easily distracted from the task in hand thought; finding a toy they suddenly need to play with, finding a pen and starting to write, just generally faffing. (I can’t think who they get that from ; ) )

Sometimes KW1 is amazing, she puts her tunes on (usually 1D, frozen or phineas and ferb) and tidies her room brilliantly with minimal guidance;we usually end up with the same track on repeat for quite awhile, but it seems to her get the job done.

Cleaning mirrors
The other day while doing jobs upstairs ,I caught wee man cleaning my wardrobe mirrors! Such a helpful boy, it’s just a shame he had decided to clean them with his spit and toilet roll; taking great pleasure in spitting directly onto the mirror. This then led onto a very entertaining discussion with his reflection in the mirror.
To see him helping http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=yri3QEZ4LCc

Hoovering
Kiddiewink 2 loves the Hoover and is always happy to help, he likes sucking up the big bits, it does take so much longer with him helping though! Kiddiewink 3 hates it, so is saved for when she is not around.

Entertain the baby
This is one job they both love doing and normally buys me a bit of time getting on. Invariably though it soon ends in an argument ( this is the main cause of their arguments).
“It’s my turn for her to look at me”
“I was singing to her…”
“She loves me more”
“No she loves me more”

In conclusion, my advice for housework if you have children is…

A) just don’t do it
b) pay someone to do it
C) hide the clutter in every available hidden space and forget about it.

When I grow up I want to be…

October 8, 2014sirene321 Leave a comment

Kiddiewink 1 wants to be a teacher like her mummy, although I am sure that will change.
Kiddiewink 2 wants to be a deep sea diver, and has done for two years now! He is a keen swimmer and mainly swims with his head under water, he sometimes stops and it looks like he is drowning! When you try and ‘rescue’ him, he bats you away, insisting he is trying to see the interesting things on the bottom! Bless his little cotton socks, imagine the excitement when he gets his prescription goggles and he can actually see the bottom clearly!

Today is book day at pre school….. No surprises there, once again he is the deep sea diver from Tiddler. Bad mummy didn’t think though, I should have fashioned an oxygen pack using bottles, oh well there is always next time. He took a mermaid costume in his bag ‘in case I get bored of being a diver ‘ (also from tiddler). He even put on his turtle patch….

Baking with children… Not all it’s cracked up to be.

August 19, 2014sirene321 Leave a comment

Why is the reality of baking with children so different from the reality? Baking in our house always ends the same way- in a mess, and often with arguments about stirring, pouring, weighing or even what to bake.
Today, I decided as it was rainy we would do some baking while KW3 had a nap. After much debate over what to bake, we settled on chocolate molten cakes (eldest KWs choice) and tropical pineapple cupcakes (KW2’s choice).
Even just pouring the flour from the scales to the bowl, results in spillage and consequently means the ratios are not as exact as I would like for cakes.
KW2 constantly asks “can I lick the butter, flour, mixture etc”, eldest wants to do everything but had not mastered holding the bowl when stirring, and constantly needs reminding. Both of them getting upset if they perceive the other has poured more in, stirred for longer.
Anyhow, it ended up with me doing the majority and the KWs making token stirs, weighing etc. They were desperate to put the mixture into the cases, but the mess that this causes ( and wastage) perturbs me and it wasn’t long before I took over. Is this how baking goes with other families? I have no idea, but it is from from idyllic in our household. The kids have a ball though!

They particularly enjoy the eating… Licking the bowl and utensils is a must. The challenge is getting them not to steal a sneaky lick during the baking!

Pretty plaits

July 29, 2014sirene321 Leave a comment

I have never been great with my own hair, but I love plaiting my daughters. I have love plaiting since the age of about 10 when I used to insist on plaiting a 5 year old family friend. I don’t think she enjoyed the experiences as much as me.

A favourite of my 6 year old KW at the moment has been named by her as the ‘s’ plait;

This particular picture was taken after she had worn it for 12 hours, with two hours in a paddling pool and a half hour swimming lesson. It held really well.

It is actually pretty easy to do, it just involved sectioning of the hair has you want to use it, the combs with the thin end for sectioning is ideal (although I can never locate one when I want one). I move to the side of my daughter so I am always plaiting vertically if that makes sense. When I get across the head, I plait a bit more than I end and then put a bobble in, I then section the next part of the hair and repeat.
It took me about ten minutes ( that included finding the hairbrush and bobbles though, which was a good few minutes)

Photo steps to follow

Ten reasons to love Eurocamp.

July 21, 2014sirene321 Leave a comment

We love camping; well glamping! We’d choose it over a hotel anytime. Granted you might not imagine it’s for everyone, but with the amazing accomodation choices available now, there really is something for every family. We all love everything about it and the relaxed feel of the holiday makes it perfect.

10 Reasons why we love it
1) space– space for the children to scoot and cycle in safety ( few cars and those on site travel very very slowly) So lovely to sit on our pitch watching the children whizz about with their new found friends. Sitting outside with a cheeky drink unr the stars, while the kids sleep. It beats tiptoeing about a hotel room when the children are in bed.
2) being outside– we feel like the whole holidays is spent outdoors, especially as we stay in a tent. I am sure this helps the children sleep well too. From walking to the loo block, to walking to the little shop; a stroll by the river, to sandcastles on the beach, so much time is spent outdoors.
3) fab kids clubs( all free, caters for 4 upwards, also tumble tots, learn to ride and learn to swim for the little one. (Not all theses are available at all parks)
4) super pool – whether you want a quiet and tranquil pool; an indoor or outdoor pool. There is something to suit everyone. Personally, we always choose one with a big complex with a slide and toddler areas.
5) everyone is friendly– young and old all mix and enjoy each others company. Las time we went, KW1 and 2 (5 and 3) made lots of little friends near our tent but got very friendly with two older couples, whose pitch we passed on the way to the wash block. One couple even brought some chocolate to the tent for the children’s long journey to the ferry port.
6) total flexibility in arrival days, choice of transport, length of stays, type of accommodation of accommodation ( tents, safari tents, mobiles…). Last year we went as a group of four families but chose accommodation to suit budgets, different travel options and differing arrival dates. The same applies to our holiday this year, again meeting up with friends for part of it,
7) Campsites to suit what your family fancies: rivers or beaches; rural or touristy, large or quaint… Accomodation choice is excellent too- we love the safari tents but usually we go with the classic tent.
8) being able to load up the car makes travelling with wee ones ideal- taking bouncers, play mats etc isn’t a problem
9) eurocamp provide baby baths, high chairs, changing mats, boosters, travel cot, decking gates, bed guards- all for free
10) being able to enjoy a drink on your pitch with the children tucked up in bed having had a fun day. We love the fact in order for us to enjoy the evenings, we are neither stuck on a poky hotel balcony while the children sleep, or dragging our kids to bars until midnight. Perfect!

A selection of snaps for the first two years of family holidays…

This year we are off to the dordorgne over May half term; we have even got friends meeting up with us again. They are staying on mobile homes, for us it’s a safari tent! We can’t wait…And for those who worry about the fact tents don’t have toilets, little man has the answer…

who needs a toilet?

Frozen mad…

July 21, 2014sirene321 Leave a comment

KW1 has just had her 6th birthday and is frozen mad, so for the last few weeks I have been planning her frozen themed party on a budget!

She is having six girl friends to do frozen themed activities, nail painting and hair plaiting with a trip to her favourite cafe for lunch. When discussing the cake, we looked through google images for some ‘frozen inspiration’, when seeing some of the amazing designs, she said…
“Wow mummy, that is brilliant, but don’t worry I know you couldn’t make that, let’s keep looking”
So glad even at the age of nearly six she knows her mummy’s limitations haha.

I have decided to do a two tier round cake, one in white ready roll icing and one in blue. I have bought edible snowflakes and frozen character cake toppers for decoration. Hopefully it should be simple but effective, pictures to follow…

To decorate the house, I am using the silver tinsel and silver snowflakes from Christmas and have some silver stars and silver and blue happy birthdays table confetti for the cafe.

Once back from the cafe in theory we will play turn your friend into Olaf using toilet roll etc, pin the nose on Olaf, frozen snowstorms (must remember to get the cheap jam and get them washed), watching frozen and then girlie nail painting..

Party bags, I have bought silver organza bags on ebay and then I found a WAHM on Facebook called Little Owls, who has made for the bargain price of £7 + p & p, book bag ribbons, personalised with the children’s names.

Fingers crossed it will be a success with happy girls at the end.

UPDATE

The cake has worked, albeit slightly more rustic than in my head. No doubt I could have got it neater if I had spent longer but three KW and hours cake making do not go hand in hand. KW1 loves it! I have to admit, I am pretty proud myself.

KW1 insisted she wore her frozen dress to the cafe and was even more insistent that she needed white hair.

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Kiddiewink development and fun, in particular children's vision.

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