10 things you never knew you could do until you had kids!

On reflection of some things I've been doing lately with my girls, I thought I would post something for any expectant or soon to be expectant parents, and for those parents who have done these, hopefully a good reflection! Let me know your thoughts.

1. Making things with play dough and other annoying stuff that gets stuck in the carpet.

For me Playdough is the bane of my life! I HATE the stuff. Not only does it stick too much, it gets stuck in carpet and clothes, and worst of all, you can't eat it (well, my husband says you can but you're not meant to). However, on reflection of being forced to sit for hours with my kids and make shapes, I can actually make a little cat, a sort of stubby legged horse and ducks are quite easy too! For someone that got GCSE Art grade C purely by fluke this is a great achievement. If you've not done it yet, try it ..

2. Living on little or no sleep

My children are the best things in the whole world, I adore and worship them, but for the past 5 and a half yeras, I've not had a proper nights sleep! Teething! If I tell myself its teething (them not me) I can quite happily put up with it. Occasionally, I need to take a day off work purely to sleep and recharge but otherwise generally, I, and a lot of my friends are quite happy to go out for a coffee or to a toddler group on three hours sleep! God bless caffeine.

3.Being a Doctor

You don't need 5+ years of medical training to be able to diagnose a child's illness. You just need your own child. Easy as pie! Admittedly, there are two schools of thought on the doctor front, those parent doctors who diagnose every childhood illness going (slapped cheek, hand foot & mouth, chest infections, high temperature) all of which are cured by Calpol and baby Nurofen, and those who diagnose everything (I might be guilty of this one) as TEETHING! (Red cheeks, high temperature, snotty nose, chesty cough). Either way Calpol and baby Nurofen are again the answer. Of Course, for other problems there is A&E, where they might just give a slightly more professional opinion.

4.Making meals look like a picture

Slap it on the plate, it all tastes the same anyway...... NO STOP!!! Children like their food to resemble "things". I found out recently, that I can turn a plate of scrambled egg with cheese and ham into a Viking Ship complete with fish, sharks and clouds (a little artistic license required here please). Happy faces are really

easy for pasta, wraps and pizza and with a little imagination ANYTHING can be turned into anything! See Charlie and Lola for inspiration.

5.Permanent Role playing

We go through childhood, we play games, we run around the garden pretending to be cowboys, Indians, princesses etc. then we grow up and it is SO uncool, then we become adults and the pretending is restricted to the bedroom.....
but then KIDS happen! My favourite game is when Molly says to me, as she's walking around with her baby in her pushchair, and Lucy has to be the pet dog, "Mummy, pretend you're the mummy!" "but I am the mummy" "no, pretend your my mummy" "but I am, so can I get on with doing what I was doing before?" "No, you have to do what I tell you!"  Better to be the mummy than the witch or the baby though, because they do NOT get treated well by 5 year olds!!

6. Loving multiple children equally

This was my biggest fear when I became pregnant with my second child, and I spent most of my 9 months worrying if I would love the new baby. I adore my eldest so much, yes she is quite spoilt, but that is because she is so brilliant, and so much fun to be around. In my eyes she is near on perfect, so how could another child match up to that? Having a second child? DO NOT WORRY. Its as easy to fall madly in love with the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and dog as it is the first. You have enough love inside you to equally adore all your children (and sometimes your spouse) without any sacrifice. Phew!

7 .Explaining life, stars, war, the news

Having never been a big fan of watching the news (I find it quite depressing) and therefore not fully keeping up to date with what is going on, and having forgotten my school science, history and geography lessons because I don't need them in my job or pub talk, I was very worried about the questions I might be asked by my kids.  You don't want to let them, or more importantly, yourself down do you? But again don't worry. You will find the answers to the questions you ask in a tiny little compartment somewhere in the back of your brain.  Questions like "are there other people on other planets? and what is a planet?" and some questions that you know the answer to but need to put in children's terms "what is war?" why is that man's face on the TV?" (because he just murdered a whole bunch of people is not a good answer before bedtime). Those child-friendly answers will surface and you can pat yourself on the back and apply for that teachers role, because actually you have just discovered a hidden talent you didn't know was there.

8. Defying of the odds of getting that stain out

Pre children - if you got curry or wine on your top, what are the chances you would either bin it (if its not your favourite) or put it in the back of your wardrobe not to be worn again.  Well children spill everything down everything they wear, and from experience all of these stain removers do not work well. However, as a parent we will try and try and ask our mums and neighbours for their advice and magically, most stains can be removed with a bit of elbow grease and a few washes.  What really makes me laugh (or mad, I cant remember which) is the adverts for the likes of Vanish and other stain removers always use things THAT CAN BE WASHED OUT WITH WASHING POWDER as their stains of choice... Oooh look, little billy has ketchup down his t-shirt, and Sarah-Jane has strawberries on her dress, and look baby Chloe has leaked out of her nappy. Best use a very expensive stain remover TWICE to get rid of it.... or bung it in the washing machine with your powder/liquid of choice and ta-da the stain will disappear.  For some of the more tricky ones, the old wives tales work best. Bicarb of Soda, white wine (if you drink enough you won't see the stain) and as a last resort - give it to your own mum!

9.Appreciate your own parents

Adolescence is a time for hating EVERYTHING your parents do, they are only there to make your life a misery, to embarrass you in front of your friends and constantly nag at you to do things you quite frankly cannot be bothered to do. Reference KEVIN from Harry Enfield show for those of you old enough! And then children come along, and suddenly, although you still know best (your parents are getting on a bit after all, and what they did in their day is sooooooo not what we do nowadays) you might just give Mum a call to ask her a quick questions regarding parenting, or a quick email to Dad to get him to check something out for you, and then of course if you're lucky enough to have your parents local there is always a little babysitting that could be asked for (fantastic grandparents time with the kids, despite that the kids are meant to be asleep), hot meals when you really forgot to get anything in, and of course impromptu presents for the children (vests the minute the sun goes down, because you haven't pre-bought in the winter wardrobe and little outfits "that were so cute and had bobby's name written all over them" - not literally). There used to be a children's clothes shop in Chorleywood that was so expensive, even the half price sale was out of my reach. My wonderful mother used to go in there, just on the off-chance there might be an Oilily dungaree outfit for one of the girls, or another leather jacket for my nephew, but even she thought it was a rip off. She asked the owner once how she kept in business being so expensive - "we mostly sell to grandparents like yourself" she said "easy market!" and how true she was... although she's now closed down.  I adore my mother for everything she has done for me as an unappreciative teenager to a very appreciative parent myself, and the local florist is quite pleased of my appreciation for her too!

10. Have patience

I am NOT a patient person. I have no intolerance for dawdlers or blatant stupidity, or even  people driving at 50 miles an hour in the fast lane. I worried about this before I had children, but now I find, that to a point (and not a massive point really) I have become more patient. I will wait whilst the children try and put their own shoes on (admittedly my 5 year old is great at this, its just the asking her three times to do it that takes the time), or eating one strain of spaghetti at a time, reading when they are so tired they can barely see the book, and as my children are quite spoilt for attention, waiting for them (especially little Lucy) to fall asleep before I can go back downstairs and watch a bit of grown up telly.  Maybe my patience with my children has meant that I've become less patient with other things (can't believe it takes a whole three minutes to heat up peas in the microwave... ugh) and people ( but my job is quite a parenting role anyway, so the guys in the office can take a bit of shouting at now and then).

These are all things I never thought I could do before my beautiful children came along but surprisingly fall into place without any practice.  Please feel free to add any of your own!

Today's cake photo is a little disappointing for me. Although as its Halloween I am using the excuse that THEY ARE MONSTERS and monsters are not meant to be symmetrical. Cake pops require patience (which I didn't have at the time) and candy melts (which I also didn't have)... I know they are still going to taste great and hope the kids enjoy them at the party later!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE!

A lifecoach's guide to friends (not the TV show thank you) and Halloween cakes.

They say you can't choose your family but you can choose your friends, and I know from experience that I have chosen some of the best friends I could possibly choose. They are funny, pretty (not that it really matters), smart(ish), caring, kind, there when I need them, they know far too much information about my personal life and they wouldn't think twice about popping round to my Mum's for a cuppa if they were in the area.
That has got to be the best combination of friendship you could ask for.

But what people tend to forget, is that a friendship is not far off a relationship (usually without the "special cuddles"), and relationships aren't always destined to last, but unlike a romantic relationship, which would have a beginning (do you wanna go out with me?) and an end (its not you, its me!), friendships don't go that way, and so when a friendship starts to dwindle it can be a very hard time for both sides to realise that the friendship is coming to an end and its time to move on.
Also, unlike relationships, friendships are harder to come by. You can't just look for a single person to be your friend. Friends have lots of other friends (sometimes) and require a little more legwork than a simple first date, but at the same time, don't need that much pre-approach research (doesn't matter what they do for a living, if they went to college, if your Dad will approve).

The main difference between a friendship and a relationship is that decisions are usually jointly made in a relationship. Shall we move in together, shall we get married, are you REALLY going to go out wearing THAT????, shall we get a puppy or have a child.... all these decisions are made jointly and thus cause little surprise to either party.... but this is where a friendship can fail.  Many friendships fear CHANGE and change can lead to JEALOUSY.

When a friend is Jealous, it is time to say bye bye and move on to pastures new, but how often do we NOT do this!
A true friend isn't jealous of you. They are envious, or sometimes if you have something they want, they can just come and take it (ooh nice Jimmy Choos, just in my size too). They are proud of your achievements, adore your children, listen to your woes of work, love your husband like a brother, but hate him for that nasty comment he made about your new clothes, and what they say about your inlaws...... well, best we don't go there, hey!

Look at the friends you have around you. Do they meet the above criteria? Yes? Then fantastic, you've got yourself a winner. Not sure? Use my checklist below to see if you have a true friend or a jealous friend (and please note that people who are jealous of you are not actually your friends) -

SCENARIO                                              TRUE FRIEND                                           JEALOUS FRIEND
You announce you're engaged        "I'm going to be a bridesmaid"                      "So we wont have time to                                                                                                                                                                               go out any more?"

You book the wedding                     "I'll wear whatever you want me to"             "I'm really not a fan of                                                                                                                                                                                  pink/green/red..."

you get a big rise at work                   "Great, lunch is on you!"                             Nothing... they can't think of                                                                                                                                                                        anything positive to say

Your pregnant                                   "aarrgghh i'm going to be an aunty!"             "I'm pregnant too"/"My                                                                                                                                                                             neighbour's first cousins                                                                                                                                                                             friend is pregnant too"
My Husband has done something    "what a tosser! Lets cut up all his          "But he was really nice to
dreadful                                                          pants"                                                  me the other day!"
                                                                                                          
My baby is talking at 9 months           "ha ha, what a blabber mouth"               "Well mine can play the                                                                                                                                                                                 piano and anyway its not                                                                                                                                                                            good to talk too early!"

And so on and so forth.
But remember, its not just friends who can be jealous. It could be you too! Take a look at yourself and ask yourself if you're genuinely pleased for your friends; or do you wait for opportunities to slag off their latest purchase; smile when their child has been put in detention again; Secretly adore that they've put on a few pounds and clothes are struggling to fit. It might be time to reassess what you want from the friendship.  Think you can work at it? Invite them out to get horrendously drunk. It should end in tears at least - of joy and love or a big punch up. Either way you'll know where you stand at the end.

This blog doesn't relate to anything personal might I just add, rather from reading people's status' on Facebook and wanting to do my bit for charity, and making the world a nicer place for everyone, a little life coaching for a quiet weekday afternoon!

AND ON TO CAKE ...
well, I am proud to say I have diverted what could have been a total disaster (and a lot of scrummy useless chocolate cake). My first tray bake chocolate cake for the school Halloween party collapsed when I tried to take it out the tray. My attempt at Cake Pops failed miserably but I have redeemed myself with these little cake halloween bites

 And then I tried my cake bake again, this time remembering to line the tin (its the little things that make the biggest impact) and I'm quite pleased with my little spiders colony. Don't worry, they're not false widows :)

It pays to ask.... and it pays to be nice (no cake today though sorry!)

It makes me laugh, in a really annoyed way when people I speak to (friends and family) have this massive fear of confrontation relating to almost anything!!  I don't mean squaring up to someone in the pub because they looked funny at your drink, what I mean is the fear of asking people for things, before being offered.   Some things as simple, and he is going to hate me for saying this, but my husband has a quasi-phobia of calling for a takeaway!! He will ALWAYS offer to pay, and even go and pick it up if its not deliverable, but he will never phone to ask for the food in the first instance! I don't know if that's a man thing or not, because think of the times that men WON'T ask for directions. Its a sign of submission to the fact that you don't actually know everything! I love it. I think its hysterical.

Its not just the obvious things that people shy away from asking, but its things that can save you money, save you time, and get you freebies!
People who know me, know that I rarely pay full price when I don't have to. I shop in the offer section of the supermarket before topping up with my staples that may not be on offer. I collect coupons (not as good as extreme couponing in the States. If you've not seen that, OMG you should check it out, but unfortunately over here, our Supermarkets are too switched on to giving as many discounts and even PAYING people for their $1000 dollar supermarket shop. I positively DROOL over this programme, I could do a whole nother blog on that one day!!). What I find is funny, is that British people (mostly) are so reserved that they don't like to waste other people's time. "Oh I can't find my coupon in my huge bag, so don't worry about it!" God forbid you should take an extra 30 seconds of the shop assistants time to get your 20% discount, the other customers might get so pissed off with waiting for you, they lynch you in the car park!! Would that really happen? Surely the worst that would happen is a tut. People rarely do more than tut to show their disdain at your time-wasting! And how many times have you tutted in a long queue whilst someone decides they really do want their coupon/voucher.  Its payback time!!

We are a nation of complainers, anything we can complain about we will. Currently the cost of living is a very good one to start with. Prices have gone up, wages not necessarily. So what better time to start collecting those coupons and vouchers and also ASKING!  I don't wish to be smug (well maybe a little, otherwise I wouldn't be a blogger) but I had to pat myself on the back THREE TIMES this week for taking the initiative and not fearing the confrontation.
So, number one - I had a call regarding a meeting next week in west London. Immediately, my thoughts were, Oh God its going to take ages on the tube, but if I drive I know a road in Earls Court where I can park if I take £20 in pound coins. Then I thought,  big place I'm going to "Question, can you get me a parking place?" Answer "Oh, I'd need to check. I'll email you in a bit" My email came through two minutes later. Parking bay xx is booked for you! Just saved myself a possible £20 and a good two hours on my day! Hooray!

Number two - was browsing online for Christmas trees. Early I know, but I thought they'd be cheaper slightly out of season (we're talking plastic of course. I don't think a real tree would last that long). Found a website I'd not used before and the tree in question was £22 instead of £49. Bargain already, so I put it in my basket, went to check out and that, what I used to call, "annoying" box popped up - Live chat, can we help you with anything?
I'd noticed that P&P had come up around £4.99 and I instantly though, what do I need to spend to qualify for free P&P, so I asked Live Chat. Live Chat came back and said they didn't do free P&P on price amounts, but did I have a code I wanted to put in. I told Live Chat that I didn't have a code and I'd not submitted to payment yet because I was new to the site and still trying to work out if I could get a discount. Live Chat there and then said "Would you like a code for free P&P?" "Ooh yes please" was my reply and 20 seconds later I had further reduced the cost of my new Christmas tree by £4.99. Another pat on the back me thinks!!

The third pat on the back doesn't relate to asking, but I think I've given you enough ammunition now to go and try it for yourselves (please let me and the other blog readers know how you get on), but this time relates to being nice!  The feeling alone that you've unprompted made the effort to praise something or someone should be enough to put you in a good mood, but in this instance I really got a nice surprise.
I was rushing back from an Ice-skating lesson at work, and didn't have time to pop into town to buy my lunch from the usual sandwich shop or M&S, so I stopped at the Shell Petrol station and picked up a Chicken Sandwich there. I couldn't believe how tasty it was. It really was one of the best sandwiches I'd ever eaten. Every mouthful was a taste sensation and I was so impressed that I went online and Googled Shell sandwiches (they do have a brand of sorts) and sent them a message to say how amazing the sandwich was.  I got an email back within 24 hours, thanking me for my kind email and asking for my address, as Shell were re-branding and wanted to put customer comments on their sandwich boxes (I thought these things were always made up), I gave me address so I could sign the consent form for them to use my words and then just a couple of days later - a £5 voucher to use in a Shell station came through the letter box! What a nice surprise! Being nice really does pay. I dare any of you to try it with a different retailer, again let me know how you get on!

So this has been a pleasant money saving blog today, but I'm sorry I've not made any cakes yet this week. Hopefully going to try some cake pops at the weekend.

Diets are all a con.... and some gorgeous cupcakes!

Weightwatchers, Slimming world, Cambridge diet, Cabbage soup diet, Atkins, GI, Dukan, Lighter Life, 5:2 - we know them all! and probably another few dozen that we have tried at some point.  They all start of great, you lose about 4-6lbs in your first week and then you aim to lose about 1lb a week but at the same time anything from about £5 a week to £50 for some of the more "specialist" diets.
Occasionally these diets can be fun and bring you closer to other overweight people, especially if you have to give up an hour of your time every week to sit and listen to others about their weight-loss and the "science" behind it.
I remember once when I was at Uni, a close friend and I went to Weight Watchers together. One week we were dreading it, because we'd been to a party the night before, polished off a whole chocolate cake between us and quite a few bottles of wine. We both weighed in about 2lbs less than the previous week! Eh? How does that work? anyway, our teacher was so pleased, she had completely ignored what we told her about the party and made us the examples of good students that week. We paid her about £5 for the compliment.

Weightwatchers annual profit this year was $48million, actually down on last year but still a hefty old business to be part of!
So, I hear you ask. If diets are cons why is Weightwatchers doing so well? Exactly I scream excitedly down your ear, they are doing so well because YOU KEEP GOING BACK TO THEM.

Think about it. You get on the scales one morning and think, oh i'm fat and therefore i'm sad and unacceptable in society. I must do something about this! So you look at what the latest fad is, buy some magic "vitamins" from Amazon or Ebay, Acai berries will make me lose weight immediately. Wrong sort of pounds I'm afraid. For what you get you will lose more £ then Lbs (good source of vitamins though, as with most berries)
So then you go back to good old trustworthy Weightwatchers or Slimming World. They put you on a programme that means you can't stray or mix and match your diets, you MUST buy their products because otherwise you'll spend half your day calculating points that they won't actually tell you how to calculate.  You save points for your glass of wine with your dinner, or sacrifice dinner for a few glasses of wine down the pub, OR you sacrifice going out with all your friends because calculating the points in a restaurant or pub is far too confusing.
Straight away you are obsessing with food; what you're allowed, what you're not allowed. What the person sitting next to you on the train is eating; what your children are eating; everything on every aisle in the Supermarket. OH MY GOD EVERYWHERE I LOOK THERE IS FOOD AND I'M NOT ALLOWED IT! THEREFORE I WANT IT NOW NOW NOW NOW!!!!!!!

And the more you think about food, the more you beat yourself up about until BOOM. You're on your own in the car, house, office wherever and you have a couple of £'s on you and you hit the shop, and that share bag of Galaxy Bites, or that whole Cheesecake, large jar of Nutella and Family size pizza becomes YOURS and YOURS ALONE.  Up yours Weightwatchers, I'll diet again tomorrow because I've ruined today! Then you weigh yourself, get depressed. You've "ruined" all your hard work of denying yourself the things that you like.... and thus continues weight loss programmes. Tomorrow comes, but those forbidden foods are still calling you, and you will eventually crave and give in, put on all the weight you loss and start all over again! Good luck with that!

Ask yourself this, is life meant to be fun or a punishment? Is having a social life a good thing or a crime?
I've been there myself and done all of the above diets numerous times. Now I'm not on a diet. My latest plan is called
I LOVE MYSELF.  Its not pretentious, because you're not forcing it on others. Its free (apart from the two new dresses I bought myself the other week because I wanted to treat myself).

I went to visit an amazing life coach/weight management coach - Jacqueline Hurst NLP https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jacqueline-Hurst-NLP/151768384894843?fref=ts

She gave me the slap round the face I needed to wake up and realise life is passing by very quickly. (please note, she did not actually slap me round the face or physically assault me in any way at all) and after one session I stopped being on a diet.

Now, I live a normal life like all of those other people who don't diet - I eat when I am hungry, I stop when I am full. I can eat whatever the hell I like. Because I can eat WHATEVER I like, I don't need to buy share bags of chocolate, because they are there sitting in the shop waiting for the day when I feel like a large amount of chocolate. At the moment, I don't feel like it because I can!  I've not stopped eating chocolate, don't get me wrong, but I will eat a bit, and put the rest aside for another time.
As you know I LOVE baking cakes. I've stopped eating all the cake mixture from the bowl and spatula because its always going to be there, and I'm usually not hungry when I'm baking.
I've stopped eating my children's leftovers and what they drop onto the floor (I tried to use this as a great excuse for eating their food when I first went to see Jacqueline). I told Jacqueline that I HATE waste, and would rather see good food go in my tummy than the bin.  Simple response from Jacqui was "What is the difference between your tummy and the bin? The bin doesn't put on weight, but your tummy does, and is just a big bin anyway!"  That was one of the biggest realisations that I've not forgotten.  You and a bin and your bin is a bin, you choose where to put the waste.

I'm a much happier person in myself, and because of that I go out more, I buy new clothes but also I enjoy exercising (Got the bike in front of the telly, its my new couch).
When I go to friends' houses for a coffee and they get the biscuits out, its not a talking point any more. Its just a form of sustenance should I be hungry. If i'm not hungry I won't have a biscuit. I can walk past a bakery and not drool. I can look in the window at all the yummy pastries and cakes and think, which one would I like? Actually, I'm not hungry right now, if I'm hungry after lunch I'll come back and get one. Oh but I had such a lovely big soup for lunch that I'm full up and don't want one after all! Of course, there are times that I do want the cake and the chocolate and I have the cake and the chocolates and then I'll have my dinner in the evening, my breakfast the following morning, my lunch snacks and whatever else I want if I'm hungry.
For breakfast this morning I made myself quite a large bowl of fruit 'n' fibre because I always have a large bowl of cereal. Whilst eating it, I started to feel full, there were probably two spoonfuls left. They got binned!

When starting the whole process of loving yourself and doing what you want, it might be daunting to think that you're only going to want the naughty things. But go with it, have the naughty things, you'll soon realise that actually you're done with those and you'd rather a lovely juicy apple than a dozen bourbon biscuits, and when you get to that stage the feeling is awesome. Put the two together and see which one you take!

Finally, on the note of diets, especially for my Mummy friends who have done such amazing things like GIVING BIRTH and giving up their bodies for their children, take a look at yourself in the mirror, take a look at your gorgeous children and how much they worship you. Your partner loves you enough to want to make children with you, your friends love you because you are fun and sociable and like a laugh and maybe a drink too. LIFE IS TOO SHORT TO WORRY ABOUT TRYING TO BE SOMETHING YOU ARE NOT. Most pictures in magazines/internet are all airbrushed. We are all too naturally beautiful to need or want to airbrush our facebook photos so embrace that in yourself. Put a picture of yourself on FB and see how many like you get for it!

To finish off, as we are going to friends for supper tonight, I made some cakes to take with. Not sure what they taste like yet, as I mentioned I've not eaten the cake mix but there are chocolate cakes for the kiddies and another batch of Earl Grey for the grown ups. Obviously all can be mixed and matched, but check out my decorations. I'm VERY proud of my latest work :)

How and why I love a bargain so much - and review of cakes from the jumble sale!!

Well, today certainly deserves an almost gloating blog as I'm so proud of how little we managed to spend but how much we've actually done. Could you believe it if I said you could go to the cinema and a farm with a family of 4 (alright, one of us is under the age of 2) and spend less than £20 on the whole day? Well apart from petrol, but I can blame having to go to work for that, as I could have completed the day without getting it but that would be stressful in Monday morning traffic!

So, this morning we went to the cinema. Normally, if we would go to our local VUE cinema it would cost £38.20 for standard seats (not wasting VIP on the kids) and booking fee. Ok so the film we went to see came out initially in the summer, and its now the beginning of October. Better late than never I always say. Booked online and we were able to choose our seats. It cost £10 for standard seats and booking fee. First saving of £28.20
I then was a bit cheeky and took fruit shoots for the girls with me (4 for £1 this week in Tesco) and some sweets they got in a party bag, and a couple of bananas. I think if i'd have bought drinks and sweets at the movies, it would have cost well over £5 so for arguments sake we'll say we saved £4.10 (about 20p for a banana? and the two drinks). We watched Monsters University. It's a great film and the other benefit of going to KidsAM is that it doesn't matter how noisy your kids are because every one else's kids are a little bit noisy, although in general the film is so loud (or i'm getting so old) that you don't tend to hear it.

That took the whole morning and we popped home for lunch (home made, part of the weekly shopping doesn't count as daily spend).

With a little research and a lot of liking facebook pages, its very easy to find things to do at the weekend and special offers too. So we headed to Farmyard Funworld in Bushey.
OK, so comparably, if we'd have gone to another farm, lets take Odds Farm in Beaconsfield as an example, it would have cost us £10.95 for Molly, and £11.95 each for James and myself. Lucy is still free there for being under two (although i'm sure she is the one who benefits the most from it all. So to tot that up, its £34.85.
Farmyard funworld had a family day on, that meant that on top of the usual farm animals and playground equipment there were a few stalls, bouncy castle, face painting etc. Adults were FREE! How fantastic is that! Lucy was FREE and Molly cost £6. Total saving on entry £28.85.  We did indulge whilst at the farm and spent 50p on face painting, 20p on a kids game with a guaranteed prize (cardboard hat) and about £1.50 in donations. So an additional £2.20 on top of what we might have normally spent.
We spent a couple of hours there, the girls played mostly on the slide and Lucy fell in love with a rabbit which she was allowed to hold for ages (yes don't worry, we scrubbed her hands afterwards).

That took us til about 4pm when we got home, but then Molly still had far too much energy, so we went out on her bike, bumped into a school friend (not literally thank God) and another hour was taken up.

Today could have cost us at least £78.05 if we'd have done it without doing our homework first. It actually cost us £19.10. A saving of £58.95. I am soooo going online now to buy myself a new dress! I deserve one after that (but of course only after using Topcashback - here's the link to join http://www.topcashback.co.uk/ref/nobby070 please do if you EVER buy ANYTHING online, and i'm sure i'll find a 20% off voucher or free delivery or something else yummy and discounted).

So talking of bargains, Arnett Hills School held a Jumble Sale yesterday morning and unsurprisingly I made some cakes for it

They were (from top left) Morello Cherry with a Glacé cherry on top and buttercream icing, Early Grey and almond with a vanilla buttercream in interesting Blue and Wheat free/Dairy free Rose and Marshmallow with a fondant icing. Well i'm pleased to say feedback was good and I will certainly be making these ones again. The Jumble sale itself was a success. If, like me, you like a bargain, but unlike me you also have patience (I can't even go into TK MAXX i'm so bad at looking through the rails) then starting at 30p an item, and a lot of designer clothes, skateboards, puzzles etc. there were a LOT of bargains bought at our sale, and a LOT of happy customers.

Happy to help if anyone needs some ideas on budgeting and almost NEVER paying full price. Give me a shout!

Define "Adult"

Yesterday, on paper I became a year older than I was the day before, and a year closer to the big 4 0, and that got me thinking about whether I do consider myself to be an adult yet or still quite a large (well not large but old) teenager.

On paper I reek of adultness - I am married, I have given birth twice, I own a house, I have a mortgage, I manage my finances each week/month so that I can continue to own my house, I work, I pay for my child to have school dinners, I pay a childminder to look after my other child.
I sometimes read the newspaper, and occasionally watch the news on TV. I think i can hold quite a grown up conversation with anyone asking for one. I try and eat healthily and I try and get a decent amount of sleep at night (toddler permitting).
That is what an adult is, right?

But what about the other things, that children and teenagers do, that I do so often, and I know other people around me do..... where does that put me now?

Lets start in the car, oh, that's one for adults, I can drive and I own a car. But when I'm in my car and song comes on that I like, I will turn up the stereo full volume and pretend that I'm at Wembley Stadium singing that song to thousands of screaming fans. But it gets worse. I have a lot of music on my MP3 player that belongs to my 5 year old. Occasionally, this music will come on random play when I'm commuting home from work. I don't fast forward "I am the Music Man" or "The Laughing Policeman" but as above, I turn up the stereo and try and do the moves without taking my hands off the steering wheel (I might be childish but I'm still safe!). My route to work is all M25, and I pass Heathrow every day. I have a little game that I can't stop myself doing either, and that is if there is a plane coming in, I have to try and align my car to be right under it when it flies over. In my head thats a lucky day to come, but HA before you mock me, I know someone else who does exactly that!

So moving on to food times. As mentioned above, I buy healthy food, try and balance the families diet, lots of fruit, veg, protein, carbs etc. but if I'm on my own for an evening meal, what better food is there than a massive bowl of coco pops or frosties, followed by chocolate.  If I'm at a posh "do" and there are lots of cream cakes sitting around waiting to be plated and eaten politely at a table, I will find myself running my finger through the cream to make it look like i've not just done that. And if at said posh "do" I drop some food off my plate, I will endeavour to move the food by someone else's plate so that they look like the messy ones.

Skin care is another area. I buy grown up skin creams because society tells me to, and it tends to cost a hell of a lot more than stuff for children. But if I decide to use the children's bathroom for a long soak, I would DEFINITELY and WITHOUT DOUBT pour in Molly Matey or her other half Captain Matey for a really foamy beard. I would go for the strawberry heart shaped soap over Imperial Leather any day and God help me if I find a spot somewhere on myself, it would get squeezed before you could say "children, don't pick at spots. Its disgusting" (again I will admit to this one as I know i'm not alone here).

As mentioned above I watch the news sometimes on TV. I also watch QI, and understand it, and other grown up shows. But the number of times I've found myself still sitting watching Peppa when the children have left the room, or even worse, laughing at ICarly or Victorious because I genuinely think they are funny.  If you know who Icarly and Victorious are, then I think you can join me on this one, and I don't have to suffer alone. Please! ? Someone?

And what about playing pranks on people. I've told colleauges in the office that they didn't qualify for time off on a Bank Holiday, and nearly, so very nearly kept it going right up until the Bank Holiday.  We have Nerf guns in our office full of "Adults" and if no one is looking (I'm a terrible shot) I will spend ages trying to knock things over by firing at them.  I laugh at others minor mishaps and point out those things that shouldn't probably be pointed out on people when i'm out and about (particularly large bottoms in thin leggings, bearded ladies etc) and very occasionally I will compare my fashion sense to that of a teenager (although I don't go quite as far as to purchase the fashion items i'm scrutinising, but thats more of a budget issue than not wanting to). I also stick my tongue out and swear at people behind their back if they've "told me off" for something.

I could go on and on with my quandary on whether I am a fully fledge adult or not, there are so many more things that I do. But I don't have the time to right now, as I'm thinking of covering my new notepad in cool stickers and then playing on the trampoline (I'm sure I can still do a somersault) before I have to pick my daughter up from school.
What do you think? I would love to know if its just me!!! What age does Adulthood really start?