Living Arrows week 17 2019

“You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth”

We are definitely back into the school routine this week. The weather has cooled off which seems to take everyone’s moods down a notch. I am looking forward to this weekend which I will spend with bloggers at BlogOn, a conference for those who blog to learn some things and generally go and be with our own kind.

Moose

Moose was chosen to receive his teachers ‘Star of the week’ award this week. He failed his sight check in February and we found out this week that he has a lazy eye. He has been trying really hard at school though and I am pleased that it has been noticed. Along with his certificate he had the honour of bringing home the class bear, Stanley, for the weekend.

As you can see, he was very happy about this!

Bess

Bess has chosen her options for GCSE at school and is waiting to see which classes she will end up with. She makes me laugh with her stories from school but this week I really felt for her. She mentioned that some boys make comments when her and her friend walk past them.

Names like “lesbian” and “tranny with a fanny” were thrown her way. I could feel my stomach knotting up as she was telling me. As she spoke, it brought back memories of my own school and having to sidestep the insults from people who felt threatened by someone who didn’t conform to their version of what a female should be.

Luckily my Bess is better than them. She laughed as she told me how she loudly shouted back “CORRECT” at their ridiculous attempts to insult her. I hope she was laughing on the inside too.

 

Living Arrows

Slimming World friendly meal planning – Our menu 26/04/19

I feel like I am becoming a Slimming World friendly meal planning ninja to be honest. Not to blow my own trumpet (parp) but I haven’t ordered a takeaway in a good few weeks nor do I miss it. Meal planning is becoming something I actually enjoy and even look forward to!

That said, this week I have eaten my own weight in leftover easter eggs. Can’t win em all!

The week ahead should be a pretty good one. We have no big events planned so it should be fairly easy to stick to the Slimming World plan and stick to budgeting too.

This week in food

Friday: Pasta Bolognese and green salad

Saturday: Lamb curry with broccoli and rice.

Sunday: Ham and vegetable gratin with new potatoes and veg

Monday: Simple pea pesto spaghetti with baby spinach salad and roasted red pepper

Tuesday: Chicken skewers with slimming world chips and salad and my vegan syn free coleslaw

Wednesday: Sausages and roasted veg for me. Side of mashed potato for everyone else. Lets face it, I will probably end up with mash too because it’s mash and who can resist it?

Thursday: Chicken Chilli and rice. Sounds a bit grim but the Stagg veg chilli is actually tasty and syn free on Slimming World. Great for a very quick meal.

Breakfast will be mainly oat pancakes or porridge. I love it at the moment and you can add loads of different things to it to change it up. I love frozen cherries and a little almond essence and teaspoon of raspberry jam so it tastes like cherry bakewell.

Lunches will be whatever we have. I am trying to save my pennies to shamelessly blow on the BlogOn raffle next week so I want to use what we have in the cupboards. Lunches could get ..weird.

 

Katykicker

Living Arrows – Week 16 2019

“You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth”

This week has been pretty much perfect. A bold statement, I know, but stick with me.

The Easter break from school seems to have suited us all really well. 2 weeks of having the children at home and being self employed can be seriously challenging but this time around they have been great. No shouts of “I’m bored” or any squabbling really.

We paid a visit to a local zoo which has a fantastic outdoor playground. We took cousin Milly along with us. You may think that voluntarily taking an extra child would equal extra work but that’s not the case at all. Milly is the same age as Moose and I love it when they get the chance to spend time together because she really encourages him to put himself ‘out there’ a bit more than he usually would. They adore each other and have been the best of friends forever.

Later in the week we were invited along by my sister to try out a new wall climbing place fairly close to where we live. One of the unfortunate things I have found with my illness is that I can no longer drive as far as I would have previously done. Luckily my brother and sister have been great about being my driver on occasion or inviting us to places.

I genuinely didn’t think that either Moose nor Bess would be interested in this though. We are not a family known for its love of active activities after all.

I was right about Moose, he wasn’t a fan of climbing at all. He did try but found it a bit scary. Bess, however, proved me wrong completely and took to it really well! She tried out loads of the different walls. I was really proud of her for getting stuck in!

The main attraction of this week was of course, Easter! Bess insisted on organising an egg hunt for Moose complete with clues for him to solve. She wrote him 10 clues and it was really sweet watching him solve them and find his eggs. I snapped this pic and the way he is looking at her makes my heart melt. He loves his big sister so much. There are 9 years between them. it feels sometimes like they have nothing at all in common but I don’t worry about the age gap too much. After all, there is the same gap between my sister and I and we are really close!

 

 

Living Arrows

Mother’s Day Gift Ideas 2019

The items included in this Mothers Day gift guide were sent to me for inclusion. However, all opinions are my own and I only accepted products that I thought would be relevant.

 

Copa de Balon glasses are ideal for drinking Gin from and these beautiful designs from a range of 12 Ginology glasses would make a perfect gift for any Gin lover.

This glass is recommended hand wash only. Each glass is presented in a branded kraft gift box.

I particularly love the Hummingbird design but the cherry blossom screams Spring! These glasses are available from Gift Giving All Wrapped Up.

Whether you are looking for a card that is funny, sweet or laugh out loud rude, Love Layla have you covered. As well as every kind of card you could imagine, you will also find some fun and quirky gifts to accompany your card like this great badge and some hilarious gift wrap options!

I think that most Mums would agree that there is not much that would beat a gift that makes their life easier. If the Mum in your life has a fussy eater then this is the gift for her!

Written by a parent blogger, Emily, of the fabulous A Mummy Too blog Get Your Kids To Eat Anything is much more than a cookbook. It is a 5 phase programme designed to help change your families whole approach to eating.

Three mills wine is very, very nice. I am not a wine connoisseur by any means but I know what I like and I like this wine a lot. You may notice that there is a bottle of white and a rosé shown here. Where is the red? Well, I refer you to my first sentence.. I may have got a bit carried away.

Je ne regrette rien.

It;s lower alcohol than a lot of other wines so I had barely any hangover too and for an already pretty much broken Mother of 3 let me assure you that this is of grave importance.

Plus it is way more wallet friendly than I expected at less than £5 a bottle from B&M and several good supermarkets.

My Mum loves to read, not that she had too much free time to do it until recently. A book would make a great gift for her. Choosing a book as a gift is not an easy thing, I think you really have to know the recipient because it is such a personal gift.  That makes a book such as Unscripted a lovely gift for Mothers day.

If your Mum loves noodles (and, note to my kids, your Mum DOES) then what could be better than a pretty bowl WITH A LID so that her food stays warm even when she has to sort out child related requests before she gets to sit down and eat! The Blue Wave covered bowl is available from Sous Chef

If your Mum wouldn’t love a Yankee Candle, is she even a Mum though?

My Mum has an addiction to these things. Something that as I am knocking 40 I can totally relate to! Luckily for all of us Candle lovers, Yankee has a ton of different scents (or “flavours” as my Mum would say) for every occasion. I am enamoured with their new range, it smells like spring!

 

If your Mum often stands in front of the fridge wondering what the hell to cook (been there) then this is for her. New Kitchen Basics offers a refreshing array of simple but very tasty recipes. The author, Claire, dedicates the book to her Mum who taught her everything she now knows about food.

The meals within these pages are clear, unfussy and original, they are inspiring. Just like Mums!

The stress of dealing with your teenage angst BS greatly contributed to your Mothers aged face so do your bit!

Treat mum to Skin Doctors’ award-winning day-to-night Potent. Vit. C and Potent. Vit. A single dose Ampoules, available in a collagen boosting Duo Pack. Each Vitamin A ampoule contains .5% pure retinol to help repair damaged skin cells, stimulate new cell growth and increase cell turnover. Vitamin C ampoules contain an antioxidant-rich, potent form of pure Vitamin C to speed up collagen synthesis and provide deep antioxidant protection and hydration.

Use the Skin Doctors Potent Vit. C Ampoules in the morning to brighten, illuminate and awaken the skin with the velvety conditioning serum. At night apply the silky serum of the Skin Doctors Potent Vit. A Ampoules to restore, repair and refine the skin as you sleep.

 

One for the tech fans, the Lenovo Smart Display is an ideal choice.

Having a Lenovo Smart Display is like having your own personal assistant. The children and I really enjoy cooking together and we love the Tasty videos online. The Lenovo Smart Display makes it so easy!

While the children are at school I also use it to play music while I work and as well as that we make video calls with it!

It was easy to set up and it feels sturdy. I am sure it would make a great Mothers day gift!

 

Critically Endangered Socks are a great gift for Mothers day.

Made from a soft and sustainable blend of cotton and bamboo, each pair comes with an endangered animal fact sheet in a bespoke recyclable box.

It looks like wine, you drink it like wine. But it is not wine. There is no alcohol in this drink and that makes it the perfect gift for Mums who like wine, but not hangovers!

In addition, it contains the beneficial elements of Prelixir®, a unique blend of vitamins, minerals and amino acids which alcohol is known to deplete. This unique element means that Botonique is able to provide anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, alkalising, detoxifying and hydrating benefits.

The drink is available in both original and blush

Not your traditional gift

Walking is one of the best forms of low-impact exercises. But, when we walk a lot, we still put pressure on a feet ankles shins and knees. The 5 layered Sole is made of comfortable EVA material, used in top quality running shoes for high impact absorption. These layers, and extra-wide perfect-fit shape, reduce pressure and support your foot across the widest point and from heel to toe in a way that feels like you’re walking on air!

The unique Walkmaxx sole design evenly distributes your weight and reduces pressure on the feet, joints, hips, and back.

SEKSY Embrace, a dynamic and glamorous fragrance. Feminine, enchanting and seductive with top notes of orange blossom, blackcurrant and pear. The heart is very rich with iris, jasmine and patchouli. Tonka bean, vanilla and praline accord and musks create a deep and opulent finish.

Presented in a lavishly designed 12-sided bottle embellished with a Swarovski® crystal and a detachable Swarovski® charm that can be added to your favourite jewellery.

Treat your Mum to something sweet.

Sparkling Wine Jelly Belly beans have all the flavour of a glass of the real thing in a petite package. A sweet way to add a little bubbly to any celebration, the 42g Sparkling Wine Flavour Bubbly Bottles make perfect favours and gifts for adult fans looking for a bit of whimsy and style for all occasions. These miniature bottles are designed to look like traditional bottles with gold embellishments. They are filled with 42 grams of the non-alcoholic flavour

 

Mum’s like to smell nice. This Mum HATES taking perfume bottles along on a trip.

I was scarred for life after I once arrived at my hotel only to be greeted by a broken bottle. The perfume went all over my belongings. I really did smell like a branch of Boots on a Saturday afternoon after it has been invaded by groups of bored tweens.

Twist and Spritz are designed to be a portable alternative to your full-size fragrance bottle. One of these would be so handy for your Mum to keep in her bag.

 

A dashcam is essential these days.

There are so many idiots on the road. So why not choose a practical gift for your Mum this Mother’s day?

With inbuilt Wi-Fi, GPS logging and an accompanying smartphone app, the Nextbase 312GW is the most connected mid-range Dash Cam on the market.

 

 

Why not surprise your Mum with a beautiful bouquet from Blossoming Gifts. The bouquet shown here is the Sweet Clementine.

There is a massive choice of flowers and gifts on the website. I am happy to report that even a week after receiving these flowers they are still going strong!

 

Living Arrows – week 10 2019

WEEK TEN?! WHAT?! Living Arrows is something I haven’t joined in on for the last <cough> few weeks. To be honest, I find it really difficult sometimes to get out and doing stuff with the children – it really is all in my head. When I am not feeling my best we tend to stay in. It’s not fair on them but that’s what happens!

If you would like to know more about Living Arrows or even get involved and join in then you can read about it here.

Last week we managed to get outdoors and soak up some cloud rays. I would love to say Sun but I would be lying. 

Simple fun

It was really lovely to spend some time in the park with Bess and Moose. It’s rare that Bess is in a park kinda mood so we must have timed it right. The aerial slide has always been her absolute favourite thing to play on at the park. Ever since she was a little one. 

Moose just loves anything he can climb up and jump off. Tick those boxes and he is happy for hours. 

I wish we could have more park days. Sometimes I regret there being a large age gap between them. It was hardly something we planned though. That said, it’s lucky that Moose has so many cousins his own age and that they all actually enjoy each others company. I feel like we are very lucky in that respect. 

 

Living Arrows