Dressing up Day

Today, Rowan has decided to try on everything in his dressing up box ... And leave everything else on the floor! What a mess!

It warms my heart to see kids play so enthusiastically though, and mess can always be tidied!

Here we have:

Iggle Piggle
A fireman
A 'cool dude'
A spider
Spider-Man
And a train/driver

Don't you miss being young with a mind full of make believe :)

Little Fun Fest, Dunham Massey

We won a family ticket with Blogs Up North to attend the first ever Little Fun Fest this month. It is a new children's festival of, well, fun! Louis was at football camp on the day we were going so I went with my friend and her daughter Ava. Ava and Rowan are the same age so we thought it would be a nice treat. 

The children were so excited! Ava was so pleased to be meeting Mr. Bloom - she loves his program.

There were shows throughout the day, including Harry Potter, Mr. Bloom, Baby Ballet and special appearances from Alex Winters and Jem Frazer. We also met Spiderman. Awesome.

There were fairground rides, food stalls, games and sweet stalls, a sandpit and an ice cream parlour on site, as well as lots more. We were there for five hours but could easily have stayed longer - the children were tired though so we decided it would be best to go home. 

(Contrary to what the photo's have you believe, Rowan did actually enjoy himself!)

We had a really great day and will definitely go back if Little Fun Fest returns next year. I hope it does!

Supermarket Vs Designer

I've never been one for buying designer clothes for myself, but when Louis was born I did buy him one or two bits of designer clothing. Then one or two more bits. Okay I bought far too much.

When Rowan was born it was a different story though. He's a real hand-me-down kid at the moment, with about 50% of the clothes he wears being Louis old things. The only difference is that I sold all the designer stuff so Rowan only got the other stuff! Poor kid

I decided to buy Rowan a few 'nice' things to make up for always having second hand clothes. Kids designer wear isn't cheap, but it's usually good quality children's clothing and in my experience it lasts longer than supermarket stuff.

High street stores are great for day to day clothes but for something really nice like a wedding or a christening I'd probably buy designer. There are some great value designer stores online so I think it's worth having a good look around to get the best price. I'm a bargain hunter at heart so if I'm paying for good stuff I still want it at a good price!

Karen x

So Many Elderly, So Little Time.

Alongside running a business, raising my children and trying to keep on top of the ever-increasing pile of washing, I also care for my grandma. I 'look after her' for 13 hours a week and my aunt does another 13. It came about when she was involved in an unfortunate incident (which cannot be discussed for legal reasons!) and she was left unable to do the most basic of activities.

I may write more about my granny and her situation another day but for today I want to talk about what I have learned in the last six months.

I have learned that life is precious.
I have learned that our elderly are lonely.

I come from a fairly big family. There are cousins, aunts & uncles everywhere. My grandparents had 3 daughters who in time had 8 children between them. That sounds like quite a lot really doesn't it. A big family for my grandma to enjoy in her later years.

Unfortunately, things don't work out that way. Although my gran sees most of her grandchildren, they have grown up, married, had children of their own - lives of their own. I will hold up my hands and admit that if I wasn't a paid cater for my grandma I wouldn't see her nearly as much - I'd have to work elsewhere for a start! So she doesn't get as many visitors as she'd like.

My gran, however, is one of the lucky ones.

Prior to looking after my grandma, I worked in care. I've looked after young and old, disabled and able-bodied, in care homes and in their own homes. The group of people who seemed to be at the back of the queue though were the elderly. So many times I'd visit an old lady or man, chat with them about their lives, listen to the same stories over and over, hear how wonderful their families were. Sometimes though they couldn't remember the last time they saw their daughter, son or grandchildren. They would always tell me that their family is very busy.

Sometimes I would be the only person those people saw from day to day. They would ply me with tea, ask me to stay longer, break out the biscuits. As much as I wanted to though I couldn't always stay, there were more people waiting for me, more people waiting for anyone at all to visit. I'd find myself calling in on them in my days off, texting the more techno-savvy ones on a weekend because I knew they would have been on their own since a carer last went in.

I know I'm soft, I spend far too much time doing for others and not for myself but I'm not suggesting everyone rushes out to visit the elderly twice a day. All I'm saying is that maybe, if you could, it would be nice to sit and watch the soaps with your grandma once a week or so. You could make an extra plate of dinner and call round to the elderly lady across the street. Ask yourself when someone last visited them. Or pick up your grandad once a month and go for a bite to eat at lunch time. I'll bet my bottom dollar it would mean the world to them.

Karen x

Clearing Out the Clutter - For Shoes!

Being a young family we are always looking for ways to bring an extra few pounds into the household. From selling unused toys to weighing in clothes, there are many ways to try and increase your disposable income whilst also recycling. It's a win/win situation.

The trouble with car boot sales, eBay sales and suchlike is that the preparation is very time consuming. I know that I've got lots of 'stuff' that we don't need anymore but I just don't have the time to sort through, photograph, list or label everything etc.

Another way to get a few quid in your pocket is to use online companies that take the stress out of decluttering.

So I had a gander at a website where I discovered that apart from CD's, DVD's and computer games you can now use these websites to sell clothes, tech items like iPads and kindles, hair straighteners ... There's loads of things you can clear out for cash!

What would you buy with 'spare' cash, if there is such a thing! I know what is buy ... Even more shoes :)

Making Life Easier - Steam Style!

When you run a cleaning company like I do time is very important. We want to do a great job for our clients at a competitive price but sometimes that's really hard to do, particularly when we give a set price for a job. Windows, for example, can take ages to clean properly (especially floor-ceiling ones!) and getting ovens back to their shiny old selves can be a nightmare. Those things can take up so much time you're left with less time than you'd like to do the rest of the job.

It's difficult to find products you can trust to get the job done properly, efficiently and reliably. I'm not necessarily referring to the cloths and sprays we use (although they are important, you'd be surprised what a difference the right cloth can make) but I'm talking about the big guns - those pieces of equipment we just couldn't function properly without.

So at the moment we're looking to buy steam cleaners. Have you seen what those babies can do?! We can use them on windows and hobs, curtains, blinds, floors, stainless steel, kettles - almost anything! I honestly think we'll save at least an hour on a full house clean just by doing the windows with them. You don't have to spend lots either. I've seen the hand held ones for less than £25.00 and I've been told they're great for burnt on food (by someone that burns their food a lot!).

I'm not sure which one we'll buy yet, but I'll be sure to let you know what I think of it when we do!

Karen x

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New Look

Anyone that knows me will know that I love a good bargain, so when I saw the sale going on at New Look I was more than a little eager to have a little look-see. Why not take a peek at their casual dresses - there's a few brilliant buys to be had!

I've always liked New Look and they were my saviour when I was expecting the boys - it's harder to find reasonably priced maternity wear than you think.

I thought I might treat myself to a new casual dress, or maybe a long top to go over leggings.

Instead I ended up ordering all of this stuff ready for summer ...

I know you can't always go off spending money on a whim but seriously - £24 for 5 dresses?! I'm half expecting to be arrested for theft!

Even better was their offer of free in-store collection when you spend more than £19.99 or free home delivery when you spend £45.00. Both are easily achieved!

I'll get back to you with my verdict on my new clothes but I very much doubt it'll be anything but positive - I've never complained about a New Look dress yet!

Karen x

This post contains a sponsored link.