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Monday 28 January 2013

Memory Monday 4/2013

My memory for this week is that finally my little ladies hair is getting long enough to need to be in a clip or pretties as I have found myself calling them. It has only taken 19 long months to get to a length when it is just below her eye brows. The sides and back are much shorter with cute curls, sadly they will go when the hair hair grows longer and gets heavier but for now I shall enjoy her curls and being able to use pretties.

Saturday 26 January 2013

Snow, snow and more snow

Since last week we have been treated to quite a bit of snow, the kids have all loved having snow days off school. Big T loved making snowmen heads that he then would not allow us to touch or even help him make a snowman with them. R was not quite so keen on the white stuff falling from the sky to begin with but she then discovered the fun that comes with snow and spent the whole week yelling "coat" at us. The girls spent most of their time sledging and little T would play for about an hour before he would say he was cold and would want to go in. In that short time though he loved helping to make a snowman and thoroughly enjoyed throwing snowballs at his Dad and Nanna.

I, in the midst of flying snowballs & the pile of snowmen head got on with making an igloo. The snow on the 1st few days didn't quite compact right(how can snow be the wrong snow) So I waited 2 days to finish it off. The kids helped me a little but grew bored after it was not  finished within 1 hour. My igloo was a good one, however last night came more snow, lots more snow, then came the rain. This morning sadly I woke to a caved in igloo, it just buckled in the heat, yes I said heat. In my garden sits a pile of broken snow blocks where once stood a fine igloo.

The Welsh landscape is beautiful on any day but when it snows it is truly beautiful, the hills were all glistening, the trees all had a topping of snow, and icicles reaching great lengths hung from the edge of the buildings.
The animals have all shied away from the snow, the cat has crossed his legs, the ferrets decided to drag their blankets outside with them when they ventured out and the chickens, well they stayed cooped up and were complete chickens.  
I think the snow has given all it has got to give for us now so we can get back to having dry feet and no where near as much fun.
Until the next snow day I have captured some snow memories for us, minus M who wimped out and went indoors.









Country Kids from Coombe Mill Family Farm Holidays Cornwall

Monday 21 January 2013

Memory Monday 3/2013

Memory Monday is a snowy one, here we have had loads of snow fall so we have taken full advantage & played. Little Lady who hates all weather loved playing in the snow as did the others.
We had snowball fights, made a snowman, made half an igloo(don't ask) and took trips around the garden on the sledge. Fun doesn't even come close.

Saturday 19 January 2013

Heat Holders socks review


It is safe to say that most of the UK has been hit by snow this week & I bet thousands have had frozen toes, not me though. Last month I were sent some lovely pink Heat Holders from the Sock Shop. I had been using them to keep my feet warm every time the temperature dipped low & I have been so thankful I have them. I spent 2 hours playing in the snow yesterday with my children, yes I had my Heat Holders on & didn't feel the cold on my feet one bit. I wish I could say the same for my hands though, they were frozen as were my children(I need to get them some Heat Holders).  

Heat Holders are the ultimate thermal sock which have a tog rating of 2.3. The yarn they use & the way they are knitted makes the warm air stay close to your skin to keep your feet warmer for longer. They have been tested & have come out 7 times warmer than basic cotton sock.










The inner has been put through an intense brushing process that maximises the amount of warm air that can be held inside. The inner of the sock is so soft too which feels great against your skin.
The soles of the socks have grips in place to stop them from being slippery on wood or tile flooring. They are made from 91% acrylic, 5% nylon, 3% polyester & 1 % elastane. 
I would highly recommend Heat Holder socks to family & friends, they can be bought from the Sock Shop for just £6 & they come a a variety of colours.

I received a pair of Heat Holder socks for the purpose of the review, all opinions are of my own. 


Friday 18 January 2013

Welch's Grape juice


I first discovered Welch's whilst attending Britmumslive 2012. They allowed me to function to be honest as the night before I had consumed quite a bit of the free flowing wine, I was like a bear with a sore head. A fellow blogger advised I try some Welch's to pick me up and from that moment I was hooked. Throughout the day I kept returning for more of their yummy mocktails & we got through quite a few of them. When Welch's contacted me to ask if I would like to try their Grape Boost I had to say yes, it is rich in antioxident Vitimin C which gives your body a boost & supports your bodies well being.
Welch's are great fruit juices for making mocktails, when everyone around you is drinking alcohol, alcohol that you can't drink it feels a little easier when you have a Welch's mocktail in your hand, children will love the taste of Welch's & it is an excellent way for them to take on extra vitamin C .
Welch's have a great range of fruit juices to choose from & are available from Supermarkets nationwide for £2.59. I would recommend them to family and friends and describe them as a boost in a glass.

I received a carton of fruit juice to try, all wording & opinions are of my own. 

Monday 14 January 2013

Memory Monday 2/2013

My Memory for this week is a cardigan I have knitted to match a Next dress. I have had my knitting box stored away for over a year so it has been nice picking up the needles again & watching the stitches turn into something great.

Friday 11 January 2013

Cosatto Golightly You2 Twin review


What has 6 wheels, 3 handles, 2 windows, a black & white stripe exterior topped with not 2 but 4 pretty red bows & pretty polka dot interior? A Cosatto You2 Twin Golightly pushchair of course. I have previously put the Yo Golightly through its paces so it only seemed fair that I put its double the fun twin pushchair through its paces too, especially as I can steal my gorgeous niece to ride in the pushchair with my little lady. Two pretty ladies in a two pretty seats. Liv on the left in the red hat is rather tall for her 15 months(not far off the height of my smallish 4 year old) so she does reach the end of the cosy toes, my little lady on the right is 19 months old and on the smaller side for her age.  I have been using my You2 twin for about 1 month, even taking it into town when I just had 1 baby to put in the seats, I could hear people whispering "I like that pram" or "that pram is pretty", I even bumped into a few Yo Golightly's along my travels, after the compliments you would see them spot that I only had one child in it, I am sure they then muttered to themselves "weirdo". R quite enjoyed having a spare seat to place all her essential travel items in & the extra basket came in handy for my shopping.
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In the Box
Your twin pushchair
2 x hoods
2 x head huggers
2 sets of chest pads
2 x kangaroo pouch cosy toes
2 x matching insulated cup carriers
raincover
matching changing bag
instructions




The Cosatto You2 twin pushchair surprised me if I am honest, my experience of twin pushchairs is around 10 years old & they have come a long way since then, from past experience I found them to be heavy, hard to lift up kerbs & hard to manoeuvre. The You2 twin Golightly is a dream to lift up kerbs & manoeuvre even when you have children with different weights either side. The weight of the You2 is just 13kg which you can feel how lightweight it really is when pushing 2 toddlers around a country park. I decided to see how it handled on wet mud because we do visit places that don't always offer a nice smooth concrete pathway. It went over wet grass & rather sloppy wet mud fine, the wheels kept turning even when my feet were finding it difficult to keep me in an upright position. I also took it shopping with me to see what difficulties you could come across whilst trying to shop. Only a few shops made it hard to manoeuvre but to be fair those shops I do tend to struggle with when using a single pushchair. The double shopping basket comes in very handy to carry the shopping, although when the seats are in a full recline position it is not possible to get into these baskets. 

Whilst shopping the heavens opened & the rain came tumbling down which gave me a great opportunity to put the raincover to the test. It slips over the middle handle & 2 velcro tabs fasten it around the 2 outer handles. Two more velcro tabs are at the bottom of the side flaps to hold it in place around the back. At the front of the raincover there is 2 press stud fasteners that go around the bottom of the pushchair just above the 2 front wheels. It fitted nicely around the whole of the pushchair with room for a changing bag too.


The You2 twin is full of fabulous features, the seats both have a 5 point safety harness that is generous in size, they recline independently & has 3 recline positions, this is done by pulling up the levers either side of the backrest, the backrest will lower & click into the lower recline position, to put it back into the seated position you just have to push the back rest upwards & again this will lock into place. It also features independently adjustable calf support/leg rest, adjusting them is easy, on either side of the calf support slide down both levers whilst lowering the calf support, this will click into place. To raise it you just need to push it back up until it clicks into place. This feature is great for when your toddler falls to sleep, it allows them to sleep in a fairly lie flat position. Both seats are suitable from birth up to 15kg in weight, the picture above shows the seat in the lie flat position. Both seats come with padded chest pads, newborn head hugger, a reversible fleece liner that has fleece on one side that can be used with the kangaroo pouched cosy toes & a black & white polka dot on the other side that is perfect for those warmer days. Three foam grip handles are positions perfectly allowing you to manoeuvre around. The Front wheels can be swivel or in the locked position and feature duel wheel suspension. The rear wheels have the linked brake system & also have the duel wheel suspension which is great for when you are going over a rougher terrain.
The removable hoods again move independently and are of a generous size, they open out & lock into place by pushing down on the levers either side of the hoods. Both hoods feature the pretty red bow & too the back of the hood there is a window on each side that allows you to peep in on your sleeping baby whilst you are on the move. This feature I really do like, I can see my baby easily whilst sleeping without stopping and looking over the front all the time. 
Folding it down is very easy to do & the 2 auto catching locking mechanism works really well to keep your You2 twin pushchair closed. Folded it measures L106 x W50 x H33cm. 
Opened out size is H105 x W74.5 x L81cm, I can fit it through my front door, however my door does swing open quite wide making the opening bigger than what it would if I could not open my door as wide.
The RRP is £360 which I think is a very fair price for it, the You2 Twin pushchair is a great side by side twin pushchair that I would recommend to family & friends. You can find you local stockist or browse what other colour designs they have by visiting the Cosatto website



      


Monday 7 January 2013

Memory Monday 1/2013

Every Monday of 2013 I plan to post a picture with a little memory that goes with it. My 1st picture of 2013 is of my little lady posing, although it is not the best picture I took of the day it is the one I love the most & shows her cheeky side the best. I was taking pictures of my nephew when she decided she wanted in on the action. She posed away, rolling around, laughing, an infectious laugh, I couldn't keep the camera still. The more I laughed the more she would show off which again made me laugh even more. She is by far the cheekiest out of all my children & even when she is being naughty she gives you a look that you can not help but to smile at her. 
cheeky, who me?


Friday 4 January 2013

Goodbye 2012 hello 2013

2012 was a pretty good year, like most families many special memories were made & my blog went from strength to strength, I hope it continues into 2013 too & I hope many more special memories will be created along the way.

January passed in quite a blur of taking pictures, I started off taking part in project 366 but soon found I could not keep up with a picture a day so this year I am going to stick with my Memory Monday & hopefully I will be able to keep up so at the end of the year I will have 52 special pictures along with a memory.

February was quite exciting because Graco announced the testers of the Symbio b, we were thrilled to have been chosen, it is a lovely pushchair that now lives in my brothers house & is my precious nephews new wheels.

March is an expensive month for us, birthdays, birthdays & more birthdays. This month also becomes a manic penny saving month for our annual holiday at Easter.


April we enjoyed a fabulous holiday at Easter & also celebrated little T's 4th birthday whilst we were there. We got to visit the donkey sanctuary in Sidmouth which mean't my mother in law got to meet Walter the donkey that we had adopted for her. 

May I became a Cosatto Buddy & to this day I still enjoy putting their bright & wonderful products through their paces, with the help of Cosatto my baby products are nice & colourful which R loves.


In June my baby girl turned 1 year old, 1 year old! how did that happen, that first year flew by & she is was longer a baby when she took her 1st steps on her Birthday. It was June that I attended my first blogging event, we had a fantastic time in London especially the youngest 2 children who came with us to go sight seeing with Daddy & Nanna. Little T loved it that much he now calls it "his London.

July & August was not as warm as I hoped so only a handful of days out to West Midland safari park, to the beach or on a picnic were made sadly. We spent quite a lot of summer getting the building work in the garden done ready for our pet chickens & ferrets, so this year we can then focus on making it into a garden that is safe enough for the kids to actually play in, it is a huge task & lots still needs to be done. I also because an ambassador for John Crane, I really enjoyed my time as an ambassador, who does not love wooden toys?

At the end of August going into September I found out that we had been chosen to be a TRU Toyologist, for 3 months we got to test some pretty amazing toys that my children all enjoyed. It taught me never to judge a toy on a past experience, I was not fond of Hot Wheels before testing but we got an amazing track that my boys love & the best part is it is still in one piece.

October & November was fun, we had birthdays to celebrate(I am still in denial that I am 1 year older), Halloween & bonfire night with home made bonfire toffee. 
I struggled at the end of November because my eldest son turned 11, he is too little to be 11. He had a fantastic day & was spoilt rotten by family & friends. 


December, oh how I love December. We decorated the house ready for Christmas, we were knee deep in wrapping paper but the kids had a fantastic day. I enjoyed all the food over the festive period, my mother in law cooked us up some right treats. Christmas day my chickens laid me their first eggs, fresh eggs are delicious. December was also special because my gorgeous nephew Callum arrived on the 12/12/12 making me an auntie again. New years eve was celebrated with family, the men bullied allowed me to play Chocolate roulette with them, 12 chocolates, 3 chillies, spin the wheel!. My first chocolate was yummy, the 2nd, well, lets just say I had my tongue hanging out of my mouth to cool down! I am off chocolate for a while as a result.


2012 as been a good year, lets hope 2013 is just as much fun.

Happy New Year to all of my readers, may all your dreams come true.








Thursday 3 January 2013

Winter Cabin Fever

Okay cabin fever may be the wrong description but it sure felt like cabin fever, the kids were climbing the walls, bored with the thrill of having new toys(I won't bother next year). Mum, mum, mum constantly being yelled throughout the house mean't we needed to get out & do something, but what?. December has been a complete washout, rain, rain and more rain has fallen onto the Welsh land that I call home. I shouldn't complain, we are lucky that we live where we do on high ground, it means we have been saved from all the flooding that has been on the news from all over the UK.
School doesn't open till the 8th so we needed a day out for the kids to run around & lose some built up energy. I needed to put the Cosatto you2 Golightly through its paces some more, with a break in the weather I took the opportunity to get out!. Our day out was at our local country park, we invited my brother in law, sister in law, niece & mother in law along which gave us the vary rare opportunity to all be together and allow the kids to all be together for a change.





The day was a great day, it never rained but we all came home covered in mud. You have not had a good day in the countryside unless you come home with half of it in your boots. The river was swollen, where we normally stand to skim stones across the calm part of the river was now covered by fast flowing water so there was no way we were going to kick off our shoes to go paddling today!.
 credit Mr B Dodd
We saw rabbits, guinea pigs, ducks, chickens, goats, sheep(one had an itchy butt by the way it was rubbing it on the fence), a donkey, llama's & ponies, who took a shine to big T(no animal ever takes a shine to him they all run away from him).
 He was running alongside the fence & the ponies kept chasing him like they wanted to play, they followed him all the way up the field. Little T wanted to play with them too so started to run, my husband shouted out to stop running as he would slip but the warning came too late!




He fell, splat! right into a the muddiest patch that I had saw on the whole walk. One particular pony liked M, it managed to nibble on her ear whilst she posed for a picture & them taste tested her coat. We learn't today not to get too close to ponies to pose for a picture.

Covered in mud we started heading to the park to have one last play before heading home, Liv my niece decided it was all too much so fell asleep just before we reached the park so missed out on the fun of playing with her cousins so we will have to have another park play date soon. R is obsessed with the slide & insists on going on it over & over, when I took pictures of her I noticed she shuts her eyes tight till she has reached the bottom whilst the whole time she is giggling, the pictures look even funnier when grouped together in a collage.

May the weather continue to be torrential rain free so we can enjoy more days in the great outdoors.

Tuesday 1 January 2013

Memory Monday



I started Memory Monday so I was able to log a memory along with an image each week. Most families have family time on a weekend and take pictures of the time spent having fun too so I wanted to have at least 1 memory a week for me to look back on at the end of the year.

If you would like to join in with my Memory Monday feel free to grab the badge below and add it to your post then come back here each Monday share your link so we can all share our memories. Your image does not have to be taken that week it can just be relevant to the particular memory you wanted to share.

If you're not a great photographer or your camera lets you down don't worry it is more about creating memories than showing off your photography skills.

You can view all my Memory Mondays by clicking here




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