#whatwedidthisweek 10.04.17

#whatwedidthisweek – I’ve missed doing this for a couple of week’s as I lost my whole entire blog for just over a week which was so unbelievably stressful, and then it took me about a week to catch up and get over the whole debacle (not sure why I added that word as I’ve never verbally used it before).

This week I’ve been off work with the little miss as it’s the Easter Holiday’s so we’ve had our fair share of much needed lazy mornings and yummy weekend style breakfasts.

Monday we didn’t have anything planned so we decided to take a road trip with Daddy as he’s a top sales dude. We ended up in Burnham-on-Sea where I don’t think I’ve visited before. It was so windy but that’s never stopped a trip to the beach for us. The sea was so far out that you couldn’t actually see it, but we had a nice walk along the seafront and Isabelle wrote our names in the sand. We found a cafe come chip-shop as I was really hungry and fancied some chips. How disappointed was I when we didn’t get ‘chip-shop chips’ but were served a plate of chunky home-fries style chips. However all was not lost as we had ice-cream on the beach and won a teddy in the arcade that came had a velcro stick-on tear that Isabelle named Max.

We were treated to Isabelle singing us all the way home which she video’d for prosperity. The videos gave us quite a chuckle as you can hear Chris and I almost screaming over the top of her to shut-up!

Isabelle had a sleepover at Nanny and Papa’s (of her choosing) which she has only done a couple of times since she was born, but she was really excited and looking forward to it. Sleep and Isabelle are not two words that fit together in a sentence so this was as exciting for us as it was her.

Off she went with no problems, and we should have made the most of being in a child-free situation, but instead we had takeaway and vegged in front of the TV.

Tuesday, again being child-free should have been used a bit better but Daddy set off for work, and after a lovely walk with the dog I sat and updated blog post SEO and other tedious jobs.

Wednesday was definitely a stay at home day, as we had a catch up with the washing and other housey stuff so none too exciting.

On the plus side, or scary side we have confirmed the booking for Ryan’s 18th Birthday meal. His impending 18th birthday is really scaring the Shizzazzle out of me and making me feel about as old as can be. I hate having a teenage son!

Ha ha I need to rephrase that. Having Ryan as a son is great, but ME being a mum to an 18 year old makes me feel old and decrepit!

Wednesday did give me a little, actually BIG ‘fist bump’ moment. We have been accepted to be a Rainbow Awards Toy Tester. I love that Isabelle plays a part in my blog and her being given the opportunity to review toys is so cool. My kid is cool!

Thursday we had a park day with one of Isabelle’s friends, so I had the chance to have some adult conversation whilst the littles played. Following this I met with a friend whilst Daddy took both kids for their dental check-up. The dentist trip for the kids has to be done by Chris as I’m such a baby when it comes to the dentist. Just sitting in the waiting room sets my teeth on edge. It’s not great when you’re trying to coax a six year old into thinking that the dentists is a fun place to go ‘and you get a sticker’!

My friend and I sat and had a coffee and carrot cake in peace and quiet and had a much needed catch-up. She’s definitely one of those friends that I might not see for ages, but when we do it only feels like yesterday!

The kids came back from the dentist check-up with the good old thumbs up for the next six months. Isabelle had to have something removed from her teeth which got me worried, but it was just a piece of popcorn that I fed her before her check-up. Oops!

Friday we played on the trampoline and then Daddy took Isabelle out on her bike for a little de-rusting practice as she hasn’t been on it for a little while. We hadn’t realised how long her legs had got, but she definitely needs an upgrade.

Yesterday we started the day by making up chocolate truffle mixture for our Japanese Inspired Chocolate Truffles. We were sent some rather unusual ingredients by Yutaka along with some recipe ideas to make. Once this was in the fridge setting we went off out for a lovely dog walk along the river. Charlie went for a little paddle, only up to mid-leg though as we have a bit of a fradey-cat when it comes to water. We ended up at the Double Locks pub. It’s a great place to go when the weather is good, and it seems to have changed quite a bit since we last went with the addition of an outside bar and toilet block and it looks as if more work is being done as well.

Easter Sunday started off with CHOCOLATE. The Easter Bunny had left a great easter treasure hunt for Isabelle which she found and loaded into her easter bucket at lightening speed. We’ve been waiting for Easter Sunday for about three weeks now, or should I say Isabelle has been waiting for Easter Sunday and we’ve been suffering along the way.

You see my MIL had her for the day about three weeks ago and they popped into Sainsbury’s where Isabelle spotted a DC Superhero Batgirl Doll and Nanny bought it for her – For Easter. Realising that she wasn’t getting the doll on the spot she had the mother of all temper tantrums which lasted from Sainsbury’s to The Range and then carried on at home.

This Barbie Doll has been the topic of conversation since then with her even going as far as making a Barbie Day countdown calendar, a Lego Batgirl house, and an every day question of ‘How many day’s is it til I get my Barbie Doll?’

This morning we were on hourly countdown until we got to Nanny’s house, where at last she got the much wanted Barbie Doll and of course loads of chocolate!

Did you do anything interesting this week?

Lisa x

#whatwedidthisweek – 20.02.17

#whatwedidthisweek – Monday was my first day back at work having had the half-term holiday off with the kids. It was a bit of a shock when the alarm went off as I always sleep really badly the night before I go back to work. The day just went downhill from there as my computer didn’t work (a bit of swapsies went down in my absence) so a few cups of tea later and a bit of a catch-up and it was time to leave. Phew!

See you on Wednesday (impromptu day off on Tuesday).

Tuesday was my birthday and I was hoping to keep quiet but my not-best mate, Facebook blabbed about it to everyone! Anyway, I had the day off and did some work in the morning (my choice) and then Chris took me for a lovely lunch at Five Guys.

The burgers were enormous and the cajun fries were moreish. There was no attractive way to eat the burgers as they were so big that you could hardly get your chops around it to take a bite. I would definitely never recommend it for a first date situation. We even had a weekday daytime beer to wash it down.

The rest of the day was a flurry of people and lovely presents including The Unmumsy Mum Diary which I’ve just started reading and I’ve bought a ticket to a Night Out with the Unmumsy Mum at the Puerto Lounge, Exeter. We then might have popped into the local pub for a couple of drinks (on a school night).

It was a lovely day even though I would have loved to have stuck my head under the pillow with a giant bag of Monster Munch.

I took part in a Twitter chat and won some beauty goodies which came in the post. I love getting things in the post even when I’ve ordered them and I know what’s inside. I like to shake it and prod it to guess what’s inside!!

On Saturday Isabelle went to Rainbows and got a badge for World Thinking Day. Apparently, this means that she’s good at thinking. Haha!

Isabelle’s friend came back with us afterward so it was a great opportunity to try out Pancake Kebab Recipe. These were really easy to make and you can just give the pancakes and a selection of fruit to the kids to construct. They both really enjoyed them, and even better you can batch make them and freeze them for future yummy breakfasts.

Saturday night was watched Bad Neighbours 2 which wasn’t as good as the first one, but still worth a watch.

Sunday we started off the day with American Pancakes with Crispy Bacon and Maple syrup. I’ve never tried it before and it was a bit strange with the sweet and salty mix, but I kinda liked it. The afternoon was a trip to the pitch to watch Ryan in all his glory. It’s been a while since I watched one of his games as now that he’s nearly eighteen, it’s just not the same. It’s way more aggressive and the language and there are only so many times that I can put my hands over Isabelle’s ears to block out the F’s and C words being flung around.

We finished off the day with a roastie. It’s been a while since we had a roast and it was absolutely delish.

#whatwedidthisweek – How was your week?

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#whatwedidthisweek

#whatwedidthisweek – After last week’s coughs and colds finally lifting, normality and routines have been restored.

As it’s half term next week this week has been a bit of a drain waiting for our week off.
We haven’t really done very much aside from the usual round of dog-walking, cooking, school run, and all the usual housey stuff.

As Isabelle wasn’t at school for most of last week we had a surprise Valentine’s School disco sprung on us on Thursday. Isabelle had a great time. She made up dance routines with her friends and they’d made a pact to all wear pink! One of her friends broke the ‘rule’ so she was mad with her. So young yet so grown up.

It SNOWED! On Saturday. I tried to take a picture but it was so fine that you cant see it in the picture.

Starting Rainbows

Isabelle went to her second session of Rainbows on Saturday which she seems to like so I think we’re going to sign her up properly. We have the magazine for the uniform which is awful. I can cope with the top and the zip-up hoodie, but the wide-legged jogging bottoms are awful, so I think we’ll get the tops but pair it with leggings.

Crafting

We also made these Aquabeads false nails which Isabelle really enjoyed making. Unfortunately, they didn’t stay on for very long so some are missing, and I’m pretty sure that the dog might have eaten a couple as well.

Isabelle hasn’t been out on her bike for ages so we thought we’d go along the river and get ice cream (yep come rain or shine).

It was a disaster. She learned to ride her bike in the summer but as she hasn’t been out on it for ages. She was so nervous and wouldn’t let Chris let go of her so it was short-lived, and we didn’t get anywhere near the quay to get icecream.

We’ve spent the rest of today in the warm playing and watching TV whilst the boys are out at football.

The best bit is knowing that for the next week our lives won’t be dominated by the morning alarm clock.

You can keep up to date with what we’ve been doing each week by clicking on the Family Life tab at the top of the page.

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*This post may contain affiliate links which means that I receive a small payment should you click the link and make a purchase at no extra cost to yourself.

#whatwedidthisweek

This is one of those weeks where we haven’t really done a lot.

#whatwedidthisweek – Both kids have been really poorly with coughs and colds. Daddy is the one that has bore the brunt of their illness whilst I’ve been out at work, and then in a proper tag-team style he’s gone off to work and I’ve taken over.

We received a lovely goodie bag from Vicks with some great tips videos which I will share with you in another post, but the timing couldn’t have been better.

I did try to cheer her up by making one of her toucanBox boxes which worked long enough for her to make me some cool cardboard eyebrows.

Isabelle really suffers from coughs and colds, but unfortunately, when she’s poorly she doesn’t deal with it very well.  We all end up suffering from sleep deprivation and your ears start to ring with the sound of her whinging. I know she can’t help it, but she really will sit there coughing and spluttering waiting for you to hand her a drink or a tissue, or pull up her blanket which she really could do for herself.

Feeble Mable

She has an alter-ego when she’s poorly called Feeble Mable.

Feeble Mable has legs made of jelly

She sits with her clothy and watches the telly

She sips from her cup and nibbles on snacks

This terrible cold has stopped her in her tracks

She has little red cheeks and hair stuck to her face

It really is sad to see her in this place

Finally, Feeble Mable starts to fade away and our little Belle Boo comes back out to play

Haha that’s the extent of my poetic skills. We’re putting Isabelle’s quick recovery down to Benylin Children’s Night Cough mixture which she can take (it’s 6+). Usually, the worst part of her cough is the nights when she can’t seem to control the coughing and then struggles to breathe which then leads to her being sick. The last time she coated me from head to toe in sick. Nice.

Yesterday I was able to get out with Charlie (the dog) for a really lovely long walk. The river was totally wild and some of the path was missing, but Charlie loved being able to run around in all the mud and puddles. I love being out with him, it seems to help de-stress me and it’s a nice kind of walk where I’m not rushing to or from something, just walking.

I then went on to make White Chocolate and Strawberry Cheesecake Cups (recipe to follow) which I thought Isabelle would want to help me make, but she decided that she would much rather play YouTube that make cheesecake.

The weather was awful this morning so we had to think of something to do with Isabelle that was indoors but not our indoors as she hasn’t been out since Tuesday. We thought it would be nice to actually leave the house. Our options were bowling, but after checking the extortionate prices we decided against this, indoor climbing (fully booked), cinema or soft play. I wanted to take her to watch Sing but she opted for Bearfeet indoor play area with one of her friends so that’s what we did.

#whatwedidthisweek – Did you do anything nice this week?

Lisa