Tasha, Author at Mummy & Moose

Well, I for one am glad to see the back of 2018. The only thing that year had going for it was that it wasn’t a leap year and therefore didn’t last as long as it could have. This year though, I feel like I am already in a better headspace. I am going places. It might even be somewhere other than the fridge to scout out more snacks too! This year is all about goals.

I know it’s all semantics really but I dislike the term New Years Resolution. I think it just sets you up to fail.

The moment you say you have one, people tend to dismiss whatever follows as a flight of fancy. Instead, I like the idea of outlining what I would like to get done – or at least start to get done – in the shiny and untarnished 12 months we have at our feet.

I know how this is going to sound in a post of 19 goals for the year but my first goal is to stop making lists. Who doesn’t love a list? Too much crowding your brain? Make a list! What is not okay though is that often that’s as far as my ideas get. They make it onto the list but I am such a procrastinator that nothing comes of them. This year I am aiming to actually complete what I set out to do. Sometimes.

One of the (few) downsides to working for myself from home is that I find myself always on the clock. The flip side of course is that if I need to free a day up to deal with a sickly child then it’s easy to get permission. On the most part though that’s not how it works. My email is open (as is my Facebook) most of the day and night. I am forever playing with Moose with 1 eye toward my phone or my laptop and that needs addressing. School time is when I create most of my clay figures but the other bits and bobs regularly seep into family time.

I need to be more present

So, my priority for 2019 is to be in the moment with my children. Not just Moose but the older two too. I know they are less inclined to want to spend time together nowadays. They have Mates to hang around with. That’s ok. But I want to be here when they do. It’s important. Maybe more now than when they were younger?

Why can I never find a pen in this place?

Short one, this. I need to organise the house. I cannot and will not dress up the idea of housework by giving it a nickname. It’s tidying up and I hate it but it needs doing and since I cannot bare the thought of others sorting out my stuff. I will be pulling up my XXL’s and getting it done.

Another major (and I do mean major) thing I need to focus on this year is to watch my spending. I totted up how much money I spend on needless crap (oh haiii Starbucks) and it’s ridiculous. Not to mention what I spend on food. Less spending means less waste and (hopefully) more savings. I am closer to 40 than 30 and I need to rein it in. I will be completing this one with a combination of meal planning, leaving the house with no more than £10 in my pocket and staring longingly through bakery windows at things I shouldn’t really be eating regularly anyway.

One of the biggest events of 2018 for me was discovering that I have a really rare eye disease called Punctate Inner Choroidopathy. It has taken me a while to get my head around it but basically if I don’t take care when dealing with stress, I could very well lose my vision. I currently only have it in one eye but the scarring from my big retinal bleed back in March has left me with constant double vision. I am learning to live with it but I miss reading books.

My aim for 2019 is to read a whole book.

Something which prior to my condition I could easily do in 48 hours. Now I am not sure I can do it at all. But I will.

I do 95% of the cooking in our household and I think that because I do it a lot, I have fallen out of love with cooking. This year I want broaden my gastronomical horizons and learn to cook something new. I really want to enjoy cooking again, I might as well since I spend so much time doing it. As an extension of this I have decided that Col and Bess will be cooking once a week to give me a night off! Because of the issues with my vision I have been prompted to examine my lifestyle. My aim is to try in 2019 to eat less meat and far more vegetables. I am not sure I could bring myself to stop eating meat entirely but I recognise that eating more veg will be helpful for my health. Hopefully I might lose some weight too!

I am also going to walk. Not just for my weight but for my mental health. I always feel better after some fresh air and I used to walk everywhere. In 2019 I am planning on completing the couch to 5k – this is so far from my comfort zone but definitely something I want to achieve.

I have wanted to visit Scotland for ages and every year it gets forgotten about. This year will be different. In 2019 I am going to plan a trip to Edinburgh for us. I think it will probably be during the summer holidays. I really want to visit Edinburgh castle. Wanting to see more of the Uk generally is something I have been thinking about. 2019 saw us visit Somerset and Southampton so hopefully we will be able to make a few stops on the way up north!

Prioritising myself

I am sure it’s not just me who feels like they have lost touch with who they were. Before the kids and the house and the husband (and the stress), I mean. This year I am going to set aside time for self care. I started doing this last year and I think it is really important that I continue. It doesn’t have to be anything expensive, even just a few minutes a day to drink a hot coffee or dry and style my hair or (see above) read a book! I would like to throw away my old make up and learn how to properly apply what I have. I have so many random bits of makeup which are, I suspect, older than at least 2 of my children..

When I was younger I had the luxury of sometimes being a bit selfish and spending a lot of time on myself. I want to reconnect with myself and find out what I like now. Not as a Mum but as me. It would be lovely to learn a new skill. I suspect that having that time will help me be a better Mum and Wife. It’s important to me that Bess sees this. I want her to know that she needs to take time to reconnect with herself too.

One of my goals this year is to spend more time with the people I care about. I need to be a better friend this year. I drifted a bit last year and it wasn’t good for me. Spending time with friends (and my siblings) makes me happy. I have booked my ticket to BlogOn in May which I know will be some good quality me time!

I know what I said about writing lists but there is an exception. This year I intend to write Kickerlists! A Kickerlist is a daily to do list. It’s the brainchild of Katy from Katykicker and it really resonates with me. A great way to get motivated and organise your time!

One of my goals for 2019 is definitely to give back. I intend to go and give blood. I will continue buying the odd coffee or sandwich for homeless people and I will be making donations to our local women’s aid branch during the course of the year. We can and should make time for self care but I believe that helping other people brings true happiness.

If that’s something I can achieve this year then I will think it a year well spent.

This week, in the midst of a flurry of last minute frantic Christmas preparations, an oddity has appeared in Peterborough.

Bah Humbug! Fest is a welcome break from all things festive. With not a Christmas tree or even a mince pie in sight, families are invited to spend some time having (non festive) fun together. We were lucky enough to be invited to attend the opening and so I thought it might be helpful to offer a beginners guide to all thing Bah Humbug!

Here’s what you need to know

What is Bah Humbug! Fest?

Bah Humbug! Fest is comprised of over 40 fairground rides and attractions. Once your admission is paid the theory is that you can enjoy your 4 hour allotted slot – either 12 until 4pm or 5 until 9pm depending on your preference with very little if any additional expenditure. No festive decorations or songs will be around to irritate your senses here – if you recoil at the thought of hearing THAT Slade song one more time then this is the place for you!

But what is there to do?

I was a bit dubious about the poster. “Over 40 rides and attractions” was the claim and I wondered what the quality of those rides might be considering that they are all free and unlimited upon entry. So. Here is a list of just some of them:

For the younger guests

Thomas The Tank Engine ride
Runaway Train
The Fun House
Frozen Swing
Helter Skelter
Mini Miami
Flying Planes
Teacups
Wild West Coaster
Go-Gator
Mini Wheel

For the older ones

Dodgems
Freak Out
Superbowl
Waltzer
Miami
Extreme
Ghost Train
Crazy Bulls
Haunted House
Twist

A well as the fairground rides, Bah Humbug! Fest also offers a whole host of inflatables including some Wipeout style big balls! Moose spent ages playing on the inflatable slides and also the Toxic Labyrinth – think mini inflatable assault course. I don’t THINK it was actually toxic…

What age group would this suit?

I think 4 to 14 would be a safe bet here. There is plenty to keep this age range occupied at Bah Humbug! Fest. The younger ones spent ages playing on the inflatables. Especially the inflatable slides! It was great that the smaller rides were indoors too which offered a bit of protection against the colder weather for the younger children. Outside, the larger rides appealed to the older ones – so much so that Bess doesn’t appear in many of my pics. She disappeared to try out those bigger rides while I enjoyed the smaller ones with Moose.

What can I eat?

I always feel a bit apprehensive about the costs of refreshments at this kind of an event. This Mum needs her coffee – especially when I am in charge of some very excited small people. A cup of tea or coffee here will set you back £2. There is also a covered seating area if you get the chance to use it.

There were a few food vendors selling burgers and jacket potatoes which were priced at around £5 each. Pretty much what you would expect to pay I think. Donuts were 4 for £3.

There is no signage to suggest that picnics are unwelcome but it was really only toward the end of our session that the children seemed to feel like they might want to eat something. They were having too much fun to care!

How much will it cost me?

Individual tickets priced £20 per person

Family of 4 – reduced ticket price £70

Spectator only tickets priced £6

Under 3s go free

Tickets give unlimited access to a four-hour session at Bah Humbug! Fest

There are two sessions a day: 12-4pm and 5-9pm

What’s the parking situation?

It’s free and there is lots of it! Peterborough arena has 22,000 spaces. There is also a half hourly bus service nearby for non-drivers.

Is it really worth it?

£20 per ticket could be thought of as quite steep. Especially so close to Christmas. However, rides at a fairground can be anywhere between £2 and £5 per ride. That soon adds up!

Based on a cheap night at the travelling fair where rides are £2 a go, you would need to ride 10 times to get your moneys worth. My lot went on 10 rides in the first hour easily.

If your child isn’t really into fairgrounds then I would say it would be one to avoid. Maybe the panto instead? But if like mine, your kids love rides then Bah Humbug! Fest will be a massive hit!

The winter months suck for colds and sickness bugs. This is not helped when your children appear to be complete magnets for them. No amount of hand washing reminders or dettol spraying door handles will ever stop it completely.

Moose was really excited to receive a special snot season survival kit this week. I mean, like, REALLY excited. Inside he found some Slurpees Snot Suckers, a hand warmer, a hat, a blanket, socks and a mug.

My 4 year old stared up at me with his big blue eyes and said

“Mummy, I’m so happy. I have never had my own mug in my entire life”.

Had I known how easily impressed he was I could have saved a ton of money on Christmas presents.. Thanks Bandai for making his dreams come true.

When Moose realised that the gross little fellas included in the package were sitting on tubs of slime, his interest was piqued.

Squish your Slurpees, push its nose/mouth into the slime and watch them suck it all up. Once your greedy monster pal has sucked up all the slime, you can squeeze them hard and watch them shoot it all back out.

Squeeze and spurt slime again and again, your Slurpee will never get bored.

Priced at less than £5 each the Snot Suckers make for really good pocket money toys or stocking fillers. Moose absolutely loves them. I was expecting the slime to leave a sticky residue but it wasn’t as messy as expected. It leaves your hands wet but still pretty clean.

As with a lot of Mums, I am not the biggest snot or slime fan but the kids love the stuff so what can you do? The Snot Suckers are suitable for ages 4 and up and are available from Smyths, The Entertainer, Argos and Toymaster..

We were sent product in exchange for our honest opinion

Let’s face it, Christmas is all about the children. With that in mind here is a selection of what we will be playing with this Christmas morning. Hopefully you will see something here to inspire you, it can be so hard to know what to buy!

Make your own Choc Ice with Mr Frosty, the coolest guy around!

This kit comes with everything to create your own Mr Frosty & Penguin frozen chocolate figures.Fill the 3D moulds with your favourite yoghurt flavour and place in the freezer. Melt your chocolate in Mr Frosty s igloo, then dip your Mr Frosty frozen shape in the melted chocolate. Place on the drying station and watch your Mr Frosty Choc Ice come to life!

Zoo imagination biscuits, which are both gluten and lactose-free, are the perfect stocking fillers this Christmas, and are treats that now the whole family can enjoy. A great choice for little ones who perhaps aren’t so keen on chocolate. They are available from Tesco.

There’s a new surprise waiting inside every Baby Secrets single pack. Each bath tub opens to reveal a surprise Baby Secrets figure with a different personality – which one will you find? Then fill the tub with water, and watch the baby’s nappy change colour when put in – will yours be a boy or a girl?

Hands down the best educational game for older children that I have played this year. If you have a child of 8+ then I recommend you buy this. Players race against the clock to form as many words as possible using the element symbol tiles, adding together the atomic numbers of each tile used to create a word. For example : Ba Na Na = Banana = 78 points! Amazingly there are over 10,000 words that can be created using combinations of the element symbols of the FReNeTiC game board.

This Discovery Nightlight 20cm Illuminated Globe

is easy to use, rotate and learn with, this illuminate globe shows children how the world spins on its axis! It also illuminates and shows countries in colour blocks and names seas/oceans and capital cities, perfect for exploring and learning more about our world!

This Discovery nightlight globe is a STEM toy which encourage children to develop skills in the core disciplines of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Suitable for ages 8 years and up. Fun for all the family.

I love this range of DC Super Hero Girls.

Unleash your power and explore your inner hero with DC Super Hero action dolls! Inspired by the powerful students of DC Super Hero High, the DC Super Hero Girls action dolls are ready for powerful fun.

The Incredibles 2 was a big hit in our house so I know Moose is going to love this toy! Jack-Jack comes with batteries too so there is one less thing to remember on Christmas morning. Simply flick his switch from Try Me to On and let the fun begin!

Press Jack-Jacks tummy to hear him giggle. Press some more and see his other powers! Hold his belly to make Jack-Jack “explode” into ultimate power mode – all colours, lights and sounds are activated

Count your final sleeps to Christmas with Smiggle’s 12 day advent calendar. Behind each door awaits either a prank or treats! Moose is going to love playing jokes on us all, it’s going to be an interesting month!

I love the bits and bobs Smiggle has for sale.

I like that they are fun designs and I think you would be hard pushed to find a child who couldn’t find something they like. Smiggle is a firm favourite in our house.

Gel-a-Peel allows you to express yourself through your own designer creations. Create gel fashions, patches, accessories and jewellery using the Gel-a-Peel Fashion Station. It’s so easy and fun. Just pick your stencil design, gel, squeegee and peel. Includes accessory hardware for three clutches and two pairs of earrings.

Project Mc2 is a team of smart and seriously cool girls who use their love of science and their spy skills as they go on missions for secret organization, NOV8. They are real girls with real skills ready to take on anything. Watch new episodes of the project Mc2 original series, only on Netflix. Adrienne Atoms next mission is to use her cosmetic chemistry skills to formulate the ideal look for saving the world. Formulate your own perfumes with project Mc2 perfume maker. You can perform this same cool steam. Experiment at home using just household items again and again.

I always like to include something for the children to do at Christmas.

I am really looking forward to trying this out with Moose. He loves birds and I think he’s going to enjoy playing with The Window Bird Feeder. The large portal with two-way mirror allows you to observe birds without disturbing them. The feeder is made from quality components and easy to install, refill and clean. Full instructions and a garden bird guide are also included in the kit.

Now Bess is 12 it’s getting a little harder to find “toys” for her to play with, but Interplay have us covered with fab labs.

Create the latest cool fashions by adding vibrant and trendy colours to clothes and accessories with Interplay’s Designer Tie Dye Kit. It is fun and easy to do and the 8 page instruction booklet explains the techniques to get the latest trendy looks. The Kit contains 4 dyes in applicator bottles, rubber bands and PVC lab gloves. There are enough ingredients to dye the equivalent of 5 T Shirts

The Best Friends Style Lab lets you customise your look with this jumbo pack of fabulous styling activities that are fun to do with friends and great for parties or sleepovers. Add colour to your hair with 3 vibrant, easy to wash out hair shadows – Design salon style nails with 6 solvent free varnishes – Create glamorous glitter tattoos with 4 glitter colours and over 25 cool designs.

Get the latest festival look and create beautiful face art with the new FabLab festival face tattoos! Contains over 12 gorgeous temporary tattoo designs especially formulated to be easy to apply and easy to remove with the oil provided. Also includes glittery tattoos to customise and to add sparkle to your look! Great fun to do and perfect for festivals, parties and sleepovers!

Moose is going to love getting creative with the Little Brian range. I really enjoy playing with paints and chalks but to be able to have messy play without the mess. Well, that has to be a Christmas miracle!

I have some plain white T Shirts at the ready so that Moose can get busy with the fabric paint sticks too!

This might seem like an odd choice for a house with no bath

But the range from Zimpli Kids which includes Gelli Baff, Slime Baff and Snoball Play will be perfect for some Tuff Spot fun – preferably outdoors of course! The idea of a snoball fight after our Christmas lunch seems like a good one to me!

We always stock up on sweet treats over Christmas but it’s nice to have a change from chocolate and Swizzels fit the bill perfectly. Everyone has their favourites, mine are Parma Violets – unfortunately they are also Bess’s favourite too!

Toy Story 4 is going to be huge in 2019 and Mr Potato Head is a classic. He never goes out of fashion and is a great educational toy.

If you have a little one who has an interest in nature, the Living World Pocket Microscope might be the perfect choice. Small enough to fit in your pocket, but powerful enough to make an ant look the size of an antelope!

Orchard toys have loads of great puzzles and games for key stage 1 aged children and older.

Is there anything more Christmassy than Pigs in Blankets?

I found this game by Orchard Toys in our local Aldi for less than £5!

Moose loves imaginary play and he has a few dolls now but this one I think will be a firm favourite. Baby Born cries real tears, goes to the toilet (in his potty hopefully) and even eats food! He comes with 11 accessories including feeding bowl and spoon, nappy, bottle, dummy, birth certificate and bracelets.

Dino Dump: The Prehistoric Kids Game with a Smelly Twist Introducing one of the newest items in Big Potato’s range of games for kids. It’s called Dino Dump, it’s a kids game for age 6 and up and it’s based on the classic adult card game Sh*thead. This time around, we’ve cleaned up the name, added some cheeky dinosaurs and made it about a hundred times easier to learn. We even added a bunch of scratch-n-sniff dino-poo forfeit stickers – just to keep things interesting. The aim of the game is to lose all of your Dino Cards as fast as possible.

From My Little Pony and Paw Patrol to Star Wars and Shimmer & Shine – the fun range of character illumi-Mates from Spearmark will be a welcome treat for little ones this Christmas.

The power is yours!

What do you get when you combine the incredible adventures of the Avengers: Infinity War heroes with Mitre’s legendary footballs? The best football in the universe… or at least we think so! Go to battle with your friends in the park – shoot and score, with this iconic Marvel Mitre ball.

These books by Jenny Ford are sure to appeal to any little bookworm. With a great adventure, lovely illustrations and even some blank pages for your child to plan their own story, they would make an excellent gift choice.

Mojimoto are talk back characters that will repeat what you say in their own funny voice! They can also lip-sync when they hear talking or music. Their eyes and mouths move when they talk or sing. Each Mojimoto also has a ring so they can be attached to your belt or backpack and you can take them wherever you go. With 8 different styles of Mojimoto’s to choose from, you can pick the one that best suits your mood!

Learning Resources Playfoam Pals Wild Friends 2-Pack. With this fun Playfoam Pals Set, young learners dig into the Playfoam to discover their new animal friends hidden inside! There are 12 Playfoam Pals Wild Friends to collect with a super-rare golden, endangered animal critter to find too! Each pet has a pop-apart body and head, for mixing & matching and creating brand new species. Once children have discovered their Playfoam Pal, they can use the Playfoam to build perches, nests, beds and more for their new pet! Playfoam is a completely mess free creative play resource that is great for sensory play and helps develop fine motor skills for little hands.

A personalised storybook is always a really popular gift.

This one from Bang On Books even allows you to add a photo of your child inside!

Christmas pyjamas are one of our little Christmas traditions and I love the set we received recently from La Coqueta. I think that the packaging would make it a great gift choice! You can see more here

Some of the products shown were sent in exchange for inclusion. All opinions remain my own.

Now that Bess is in year 8, she really needs a device to help with schoolwork and studies. I did wonder originally whether I should just let her use my (now ancient at 5 years old) laptop but it is slow and a bit cumbersome due to it’s size. Bess has worked really hard this year and has an amazing attitude to school (and life generally). So, when we were asked recently whether we would like to try out the new Asus Zenbook UX410U I, of course, said yes!

The Asus Zenbook UX410U is a lot smaller than my old thing. It’s a really pretty grey colour which when it catches the light looks a little purple. Purple is her favourite colour so I know Bess is going to love it!

The Zenbook has a 14″ screen so it’s small enough to slip into a backpack or bag without it weighing you down. It weighs just 1.4kg. This is a great device for using at home or taking along with you to be able to get work done on the go. With up to 8 hours battery life I can imagine it would be very comfortable to use at our local cafe.

The slimline design of the Asus Zenbook gives it a great aesthetic. The NanoEdge display means that you have a great field of view. There is very little wasted space around the edges of the screen. This makes it perfect for watching box sets or movies. Or in my daughters case Hamilton. So much Hamilton.

The Asus has an aluminium (rather than plastic) casing which adds to the feel of quality. Along with a combo audio jack, there’s a full-sized HDMI connector plus USB 3.1 and USB Type-C ports on the left-hand side. An SD card slot and two further USB 2 ports sit on the right. Asus tucks the speakers under the front lip of the laptop, and they’re worthy of the Harman Kardon branding – loud, clear and detailed.

I am not so keen on the keyboard. For me, the keys seem a little large? Maybe the keys on my old thing are on the small side though so it might just be personal preference. That said, they are fine to type with and backlit. I have heard murmurs about there being issues with the Zenbook’s touchpad. I haven’t found it to be a problem at all.

The Asus Zenbook UX410U was really easy to set up. The power button is right next to the delete button though. Guess which one I accidentally hit.. The Zenbook sprang to life and was soon talking me through password set ups and the like with the aid of Cortana!

Key Features

Up to 8 hours battery life
Light and portable at 1.4kg
Intel® Core™ i3 processor – for work & entertainment
4GB RAM – run 3 to 6 things like streaming & work docs
128GB SSD offers plenty of storage & super-fast loading

I think Bess is going to be absolutely over the moon with this laptop and I am even tempted to get another to replace mine! It has everything you would expect from a laptop in the mid range bracket and I am sure it will help Bess with her studies and socialising!

I received this product in exchange for a review. Opinions are honest and my own.

19 Goals For 2019