My New Phone & Social Media

Earlyer this month i got my long awaited new phone, i am on a contract that gives me a new phone every two years, so with all the new tech out there i was getting a bit board with my old one. The last two phones i have had have been Blackberrys, i really love them because of the keyboards, it makes texting so much easier, but this time around the new Blackberry would have cost me £79 per month, way more than then £16 i have been paying so i settled on a Samsung Galexy, Great!
It arrived and i quickly signed up to all the different apps you can't get on Blackberry, signed into Emails, facebook, twitter, Instagram, which i have been desperate to go on and a whole host of others. I was all ready to go...within a week i had used all my data...a week later i had used all my minutes, previously i had only used a third of my minutes and a 10th of my data. But now its there at the touch of a button, it pings i check it, whenever and wherever i am, all the junk emails all the comments for a post i commented on. Okay so it was a novelty at first but now its slightly irritating and all those apps were filling up my storage and draining my battery.

The final straw has come last week when i was just getting into bed and it pinged, i checked, it was a question about the local Gala of which i am chairperson, i answered the question, little did i know that a couple of ours later i would still be part of the conversation and others about the conversation but on secret groups. Basically somebody wasn't happy with some decision the committee had made and after some debate started throwing really ill informed remarks, that i was a member of the local council and taking back handers to ruin there local tradition, Well i am not part of the council, i am a volunteer and get paid nothing, none of us do. So after an apology about that, they then started making very personal nasty remarks about us, at this point a few committee members were all commenting. eventually they ran out of steam and i came to me that actually they were just enjoying winding us up and that i had spend a couple of hours falling for it.

So i have turned off some of those apps that were using up so much of my time and will go back to the old way of doing things, popping on to the computer when i have the time or in the evenings, it will be useful around gala day, when i need to be in touch with people and advertising, but really i have better things to do, like knitting and crafting, so much for modern technology.

Getting out the garden for the first time this year

As i write this the kids are outside in the back garden playing, finally its dry enough to venture out there. In fact the little two have been playing out there for the best part of the day, followed by Molly. As soon as she got in from school is rushed upstairs and changed into a skirt and t-shirt and asked me to get the paddling pool out! while the sun is out it is nice and warm, but not that warm.

It was really nice to feel the sun on my face and sit out for a few hours crocheting, in the back garden and i can leave them out too as, its so much easier as i can see them from the kitchen window so i can do the things i need to do while they play, without having to sit out there all the time. I have actually managed over the weekend to dry washing outside, whoo whoo, i hate having to dry the washing inside, and it takes less ironing and smells and feels fresher outside. Its also nice for the house to remain tidy, it always feels so much bigger in the summer we are not all crammed indoors.
On Sunday as it was such a nice day, we started tiding up the garden, gave the grass the first cut, took a couple of car loads to the tip and just started getting it all back into order, it was actually quite a relaxing weekend, nowhere to go, no time limit just plodding on, i did lots of reading and finished my book, which was a nice easy going read called The Girl under the Olive Tree, i have past it on to my Mum now, i ave to say it was the paperback version, i still like the feel of a book in my hands. I also finished my second Star Wars Jumper so will photograph it next weekend, super excited to show it off.

Saturday night we were all sat watching telly and i suggested we could ave an indoor camp, so we brought our sleeping bags down and set up, i ended up sleeping on the couch, after Fred and Alex fell asleep Paul took them up to bed, but Me, Molly and Ewan watched Harry Potter till we fell asleep and Paul turned it off and he went off to bed (he didn't fancy sleeping on the floor!). I did actually have a great nights sleep on the couch, when i was pregnant i used to sleep on it a lot due to heartburn and the pain in my back and hips, which was even worse then, but despite getting a new bed i still am in so much pain at night, so maybe a night on the couch every now and then might do me good.

Alex always has to lie on me, i kept trying to put him between me and Molly but he just kept climbing back up

It always amazes me how much the kids love doing stuff like that, basically watching a film we have seen many times and sleeping on the floor, still we had fun and will definitely do it again.

Another great Saturday toy was the box my new microwave came in! 

I also put him to work "feeding" the hoover the sugar puffs that were all over the floor

At the end of last week i took Fred and Alex swimming, i had an advisory board meeting for the Children center in the morning and we were near the pool, Alex fell on his way and had a nose bleed, so it took him a while to feel happy to be in the water, especially after being in creche all morning, so he was a bit tired anyway, but minutes after we got in he was loving it. We were the only people in the pool, then another boy got in and it was Freds friend from nursery and he was so pleased and the other boy didn't have armbands and clearly was used to swimming so, it encouraged Fred to try without his.

After we got some chips, although Alex was out for the count the minute we left the the building, Fred lasted till we got on the bus, this picture made me laugh, he fell asleep clutching his chips and i could not get them off him, over an hour later, he woke up and carried on eating them, stone cold chips yuk!

Fred has started to feel the need to dress up for nursery again, this weeks outfit!

I am looking forward to the rest of the week as it supposed to be just as nice xx

My baking boys and fab cookie recipies

Yesterday me Fred and Alex decided to have a baking day, i had treated us to some biscuit cutters from home bargains. It think home bargains sell some fab cooking and baking things and they are really cheap, i thought the biscuit cutters would just be normal cutters but they had handles with springs in, so you could push it in the dough and it would come out with the dough then you pusg the top down to release it onto the baking tray, really easy for little ones and they stay in shape and only 99p for 4 great!

I don't make biscuits very often in fact i think i have only made them twice, once when Ewan was small i made chocolate swirl Shortcakes which didn't look great and tasted less than great and then i got a recipe for Subway Cookies, that were amazing and worked perfectly and i have no idea why i never made them again, but other than those its only every been gingerbread men at Christmas. So i looked for the cookie recipe and realised i had got rid of it as i had written it in my Delia cookbook. I got rid of all my cook books just before Christmas as lets face it you can get any recipe online now and while i used to love thumbing through them, i had learn't most of the recipes by heart and they were taking up a cupboard so they went.

So i found this recipe for Millies cookies Click Here to try it.

As you can see my little cookie monster was happy to test them and they were delicious!

Next we made some basic biscuit dough, which was really easy

250g Butter

140g Caster Sugar

1 Egg Yolk

2 tsp Vanilla Extract

300g Plain Four

Just mix it all together and ball together into a dough and roll out.

Cut into shapes and place in the oven 180c (fan Oven) for 10-12 mins until just starting to brown

With our new cutters, hey presto! Fab, Tasty, Easy Biscuits! Fred was very proud of them.

After they wanted to "camp" so i got the play tent out and they had lunch in it

Unfortunately after lunch they were not tired, just full of sugar from the cookies and wre hyper all afternoon, but it was still good fun xxx

Mothers Day

What a lovely weekend i have had, Friday the little guys each gave me a card they had made, i tried to get them to wait till today but they could barely wait till we got home from school. Fred even made some lemon hand scrub that is amazing so i will be asking nursery for the recipe! Ewan card made me smile they had to write words to describe there mum and had put all the usual, best, kind but had put a " Good Cook" and "Creative" as well, nice that he seemed to have thought about it and thats what he thinks of me.

Today i decided on an easy day s i  filled the slow cooker up with a new recipe i found called Campfire Stew, which really now i think about it is more like a full breakfast all mixed together without the egg, its a gammon joint, tins of beans and tomatoes, mushrooms, onions and potatoes with some herbs. Its so nice to come in and know the tea is done and it seems to have gone down well. We had been to drop some flowers and a card to my mum and then headed to the beach for a picnic, it was pretty nippy down there but as its mothers day i decided to let Paul venture down to the sea with them and i sat in the warm car with the sun blazing down, knitting. One by one the kids came back to sit with me in the car.

Yesterday i took the older two swimming, Alex had been sick all day and ill for a few days so he and Fred stayed home with Paul.

 Its part of my gym membership i get free swimming so thought it would be nice to start taking them. I think Swimming is a really expensive outing otherwise, £5 each for adults, £2.90 for over 5s and 60p for under 5s, so for us to go its £17. Considering to take them all to the waterpark is about £25. But i think we will make it a more regular thing. Also it was nice to spend time with just the older ones.

Afterwards we had a walk through Fleetwood and bought some chips to warm us up.

We walked trough Fleetwood Market which is where i go to get my wool and craft supplies, they have the most fantastic stall which is just piled up with everything, i could spend hours rummaging through it all and its so cheap!

After we caught the bus home and got to sit up top for a change without the pram!

It was such a bright and sunny weekend such a contrast to the end of last week when we had some snow! Not quite enough to play in but we had to walk to school while it was coming down which was nice.. but cold.

Secretly i am hoping for some more!

The new regime

Its back to school and a new start for me, i finally when and joined the gym! i was very ill though,  i still felt full of a cold, it lasted over a week, but i decide to go as i knew it would be mainly filling in the forms and settling the kids into the creche. As i thought Fred did not take very well to creche and stood at the glass crying so they had to come and get me out of the gym, they told me about another little girl years ago who had done the same thing...turns out it was Molly! they had remembered how much she had kicked off after all these years, she clearly made an impression on them!. Alex on the other and loved it and screamed when it was time to leave. Even though i wasn't well i had a play with the machines and was really surprised, they all have screens that have all the freeview channels on  and you can go in the internet as well, so i had a gentle cycle while watching Jeremy Kyle!. So this week i have been twice more to the gym but decided to go when Fred was at nursery as Alex really enjoyed it and as he doesn't go to nursery yet its good for him to have this time away from me to play and i didn't want Fred to spoil that for him, it has worked out quite well as i have been telling Fred that we have been to Creepy Crawley Creche ( they have a kids play time called creepy crawlies, so just called it that) and Alex made me a card for mother day and i think Fred feels he is missing out so a few more weeks and i will try him again. I have started out just doing my own thing at the gym rather than have them give me a program as i am quite conscious of my back and also i wanted to just get used to going without putting to much pressure on myself, even so i have surprised myself with how much i can actually do. but i do walk a lot so i suppose that helps. In fact the other day i decided to find out just how far i walk every day and was stunned to discover that the school run alone is 5 miles a day, then i walk to visit my parents and to the gym and the kids hobbies and any other places i need to go, so i walk about 7 to 8 miles a day on average. I was quite pleased to learn that i had lost 3lb this week without really sticking to my diet, too much cake again!

Finally got my hair to go bright bright pink! i love it

Alex has discovered his favorite spot for watching tv and playing trains at the same time, in the draw on the train table.

We found some time to play Thomas Bingo, its ages and ages since we last played this, in fact it was at my mums house for a long time, Fred just loves it

This picture was from before the end of term when Molly and Ewan went off to the Valentines disco

They had a great time and it was like Mollys leaving do from her old school, she is really enjoying the new school and from what i have seen so far it was a good choice, she even got superstar of the week!

Alexanders 2nd Birthday

Alexander's 2nd birthday was on Sunday, or Alex, Ali, or Prince Ali as i constantly sing to him (from Aladdin).

It doesn't feel like 2 years ago when he was this tiny!

He was such a placid baby and still is, he is happy just pushing his trains and cars about, he reminds me of Ewan when he was that age as he was just the same.

I remember taking these bunny pictures, it just feels like yesterday.

I have to say he was defiantly the easiest baby of the four, 

The morning was spent opening the presents and playing with them, all fighting over the peppa pig remote control car even Ewan!

They had a little birthday picnic, which were going to have once we were out but it was easier before and we sung happy birthday and Alex blew out his candles

Then we headed off to the park and for a walk down the river, looking for muddy puddles but their was surprisingly few, but the ones we did find Alex made the most out of

Here is the cake i made, it occurred to me that they have all had Night Garden cakes for there 2nd birthdays, shows hoe popular it is.

So this is probably my last night garden cake... i did feel quite emotional that i no longer have a baby and that this will be my last year of nappy's, prams and cots, the baby things are slowing being given away. Its been 10 years really of always having a pram to push, and we had to move on from it sometime i suppose, and maybe we can travel bit lighter now on days out and holidays!