A pocket of my life

July was a busy one for us, from theatre trips, days out and even a little trip away for me and Liam. July started with our first trip to the theatre, this was a pretty inpromptu trip as a friend offered a ticker for me to see 2:22 A ghost story  and wow what a show it was. The next weekend was our second, and last show of the month was one mainly for Olivia but enjoyed by all of us, Bluey's big show .  The next week was the lasy week of school, it been a hot tem and I was/am so ready for the rest. It was an emotional one leaving the children and moving to another year group but I am excited for the experience. Lilly took part in her sports day in the last week of term too and came home with 4 medals, a 1st in the 100m sprint and 2nd in three other events, she honestly smashed it. The first week of the summer holidays brought mine and Liam's minimoon to life, a night away in a shepards hut not too far from where we live. We took a walk together, had a tasty milksh...

This post is so late and for that I apologise, it has been a crazy couple of weeks, and now August feels like a distant memory. August started quite slow and quiet with just a few trips to the park with the girls, baking and relaxing after a crazy last term at school. This was well needed and I really enjoyed the slower mornings and enjoying time with the girls, during this time we also decided to try out some  natural tie dye , this actually turned out fantastic and we will be trying this again. Me and the girls took part in Hastings carnival with the school, my Dad and Angie also had there own creation in the parade of Chitty, it was amazing as always. The acutal parade was great, the weather was good and the atmosphere was incredible, I forgot how much I liked being part of it all. One of the highlights for the girls (and me) was meeting stitch and having a photo with him, our local shopping centre hold amazing free events and this was one over the summer holidays, t...

We are half way through the summer holidays and we have been adventuring out the house into nature, during a camp at the beginning of the holidays Lils learnt about natural tie dye and has been teaching us all about it. We recently went on a walk together to find some blackberries for our choice of colour. When we got home we washed the blackberries, then boiled them in some water with salt, this helps the colour seep into the fabic better.  To prepare your fabric, you must dampen and wring out before tieing it. to create the patterns you can twist, twirl or fold in different ways before tiring in places to hold it together, we used pipe cleaners ourselves to keep it together. Once done, you put your pieces into the dye and soak for around 20-30 mins. We then left overnight in a plastic bag to help the fabric hold the dye in.  The next day is time to see how it worked, we started by taking off the ties and rinsing in cold water before putting the item on a quick wa...

Goodbye July, its been good! We started off the month strong with a quiz night at guides, it was such a laugh but we did come last which meant we came home with teh wooded spoon, Lils also got presented her badges for the past few months at guides too. We also had lots of time in the garden and enjoyed the bbq aswell. The weather has been lush, hot but lush.  Before the schools broke up Lils took part in a show with her band for the first time, she honestly smashed it, she was lead singer and they song 'We will rock you', she also performed with the choir too. This was an end of the school year celebration. Olivia also had pirate day in the last week of term which meant dressing up time. We ended the schoo, year with many gifts and cards, which made me feel so overwhelmed and loved and on the last day of term we enjoyed a few drinks together in the sun/cloud. Summer holidays in full swing which means garden time, beach fun and Lils camp, she went away with the guide...

 The summer holidays can be scary for some parents knowing that there budget doesn't stretch far, I try to keep to a strict budget so we don't go beyond our means, this means that some days are in with free activites and crafts. So here are some free/cheap ideas to keep you and the kids entertained over the holidays. Rock painting and hiding Lego building Pet pals workshop (Pets at home) Den making Baking ( Cookies , Cupcakes ) Cinema (kids club) National trust (vouchers are very useful) Beach/park  Summer reading challenge (local libraries) Scavenger hunt / nature hunt These are just a few things that we get up to in the summer holidays. I normally put these and more in an envelope and get the girls to pick something out when the day is slow or there bored. I really hope these help and would love to hear what you get up to as well. Victoria x

August has honestly been such a lovely month, full of making memories before the big change happens.  We started off with a trip to the beach with Olivias scooter and Lillys roller blades, they both did amazing and Lils confidence is growing each time she tries them. I also took the girls to enjoy there first knicker bocker glory, one of the memories I have with my Mum which I am now passing down.  Lils took part in Hastings carnival this year with my Dad and Angie and absolutely smashed it. They did a steam punk theme which looked awesome, Liam joined us in watching the parade and it was just such a lovely day.  We have spent many days at the bench enjoying the waves and whilst down there thr girls took part in the summer reading challenge too which meant they got lots of goodies. The beach is a happy place for me, the sun and sound of the waves is honestly just the best.  One of Liams days off we took the girls to our local rides, I think Olivia would h...

With the summer holidays fast approaching I am trying to think of ways to keep the kids entertained that don't break the bank. Its so hard to find different things to do but I have managed to come up with some activities that are either free or cheap that I have put into an envelope for the kids to pull out, I wanted to share these ideas with you in hope that they will help you too. If any other items are required for the activity I have written in below or linked it.  Painting secret stones and hiding them  Baking some tasty treats Slime baff or gelli baff  from zimpli kids Film night with popcorn and sweets Beach day if you have one close LEGO afternoon Park and ice creams Go to the penny arcades (£5 each) Make a den. A penny hike (tales left and heads right) the penny chooses where you go. Sign up to the summer reading challenge (local library) Find free local activities/events Find a new play park Indoor scavenger hunt Geocaching  Create and ...

Wow, August flew by in a flash and has been a blast, the summer holidays are coming to an end but we have tried to cram as much as we can into the past month.  August started off with a few adventures, we found a new play park which the girls both loved, there was something for both the girls to enjoy and they even got me to join in. Me and Lilly also spent some time on the beach whilst Liam was busy, it was nice to have this time with her whilst Olivia was in nursery. On the rainy days we built a den that the girls could sleep in, Olivia's first one, we made it comfy and cosy and the girls loved it. It was something we used to do before having Olivia so it was nice to bring this sort of thing back into Lils world. Another thing me and Lilly enjoyed was an open air cinema , I had planned this a couple of months back with Liam so that I could have some one on one time with Lils. It was a brilliant night and we both came away smiling, I will definitely do it again. ...

 Last week me and Lilly had a Mummy daughter evening and took a trip to Hastings pier to watch The Greatest Showman at an open air theatre. I had been planning something like this before we even knew about what that were showing.  Once they had announced that they were showing we sat down and went through the films and picked this one, we both felt it would be fun to watch together and a nice feel good evening. The evening turned out with cost just £10 including booking fee which I felt was a great price. The event itself had refreshment vans which you could buy a wide array of food from burgers to popcorn and sweets and also had a bar for the adults to enjoy. We got ourselves some popcorn and drinks to enjoy whilst watching and settled in for the film with our jackets and blankets to keep us cosy, I wish we had taken bigger ones though as it did get a little chilly by the end. The atmosphere was brilliant, the show was shown on a big screen which was on a ...

This month has flown by and we are fast approaching Autumn, if for one cannot wait. We are finally in the Summer holidays, well Lilly is as we have made the decision to keep Olivia in nursery over the holidays to keep the routine.  July started off with another trip to  Brands Hatch  for the Super touring power event in which we met Jake Hill and had a great family day out. This month has also been a big one for dressing up as pirates. Our town is very big on pirates and actually holds the world record for the largest gathering of pirates which was 14,231 all together. This year Olivia's nursery had pirate day and she got to go as a pirate with pirate themed activities to keep them amused and over the weekend me and the girls took part in the pirate parade together, its such a lovely weekend and the girls seemed to love it. Lils had a busy month with sports day, rugby trial, a beach party and the end of year 5 just being part of it, the end of school has made ...

Over the summer holidays its hard to find tasks that are cheap to do to keep the kids entertained, I have searched the internet for things and placed some ideas in an envelope so that we can pick a task out for the kids to do. Today it was time to try and make some cloud dough with two simple main ingredients, It was easy and relatively mess free. All you need is: 2 cups of corn flour 1 cup of baby lotion food colouring if you wish We started off with pouring the 2 cups in a large bowl and pouring the lotion on top, we started off by slowly mixing it with a spoon until it combined, add more flour if it is sticky. We created some baby blue cloud dough with just a few drops of food colouring, which I folded in so I did not stain my hands too much. This is honestly such an easy task and cost about £1 to make with more left for another day. We are currently storing the dough in an airtight box and will continue to use until we can no more. I hope that this post gives you an idea to do over...

Some days you just need to let your kids blast off some energy and be tech free and what best place to do it than the woods. We always like to find new places to explore but this one is a familiar place to us, it's quite a hidden walk with some mini waterfalls and bridges to cross. We took this adventure with some of Lils friends which always makes them more exciting with them making there own story up as we took the trail, we also love to meet the dogs that are being walked. I think it is so important to let kids be kids without tech being involved and using there imaginations. I spent a lot of my time in the woods making memories and I hope that it continues with our children too. At this point little one is way too small to take these trails so I use the carrier, she loves watching lils run around and we try to involve her as much as possible. We ended the walk with Lils taking a bit of a dip in the streams, she came out very muddy and soaked ...

Ever tried making your own lip balm? we hadn't until the other day but would certainly consider making again, we had been sent a lip balm kit to try out and Lils was made up with it. The sent Lils picked was sweet orange, it literally smells like you are peeling oranges and make you want to eat it. The kits comes with everything weighed out and the instructions are so simple to follow.  The whole process of melting, transferring the melted wax to the tins and putting the stickers on took around 20 minutes so its nice a quick for something to do. It was easy enough for Lils to do 95% of it with me supervising. The kit makes 6 full lip balms which smell and feel amazing to use.  The kit is vegan friendly, UK made and all the packaging is biodegradable or recyclable. https://www.hugtheearth.co.uk/