My holiday memories

Summer is fast approaching but unfortunately we have no plans to travel to any far off places. We will try to get around the British Isles and visit a beach or two during the summer holidays but in the meantime I will flick through photos of our first family holiday abroad to Spain and savour the memories.

This is one of my favourite images from our holiday because it is very typical of our whole week; me relaxing and topping up the tan while the kids enjoyed themselves in the water!

This is my entry to Covered Mags #myholidaymemories competition. To win a load of holiday goodies visit Covered mag and find your favourite holiday snap!

My Prime 5 baby names

With a new Princess in town there is lots of talk about baby names. It reminds me of that precious time when I had a tiny newborn that I had to give a name to, that they would be stuck with for the rest of their lives. I am always doing that thing of imagining another baby in the family and thinking of what I would call it, although I do not have any intention of extending our family, there is no harm in dreaming!

So here are my list of the top 5 boys and girls names I would consider for my own little Prince or Princess

Boys names

1. Taylor

2. Blake

3. Jenson

4. Harrison

5. Elijah

Girls names

1. Sienna

2. Rosa-Mae

3. Isla-Louise

4. Amelia

5. Ella

I tend to go with pretty names that may be classed as trendy but I believe would still sound nice into adulthood. My own children's names are a mix from different regions and so far they are all quite happy with the choice I made!

What type of baby names did/would you choose for your own little cherubs? Traditional, Vintage, popular or cute?

Come and link up below with your own list of baby names #myprime5

Goodnight Charlie

Last week we went through the awful experience of losing one of our beloved pets.

Charlie Whiskers was the kitten of our cat Coco. Coco has had a few litters in the past and most of the kittens have gone to our family members or friends, but we never kept any ourselves...except Charlie! I don't think we ever had any intention of keeping him we just never re-homed him, we got used to having him around and he became part of the family.

Charlie Whiskers had two names because we couldn't decide on just the one, he was just under a year old and was such a sweet natured kitten. He was so chilled out and would happily climb all over you to get attention and a snuggle. His sister Kitty lives next door with the neighbours and she always climbs the fence to come and visit. Coco would hiss at the two of them if they disturbed her but they would happily chase each other and roll around on the grass.

It was 8 o'clock in the morning when a lady that lives a few doors down came and knocked. She said she knew we had cats and that there was a black and white cat down the lane next to our house that was dead. There are a lot of black and white cats in our area, most of them are boys that sit on our back wall calling Coco, I know it sounds bad but I hoped it was one of them and not Charlie. We called Charlie and whistled but he didn't come running like he usually would when he knows he is being fed, that's when I knew it was him.

Funnily enough I never usually lock the cat-flap but Coco had just had her neutering operation and we were told not to let her outside for 10 days. I locked the cat-flap that night and pushed the bin up against it because I knew they can pull it out of the wall if they wanted to. Neither of them usually go out at night anyway as they are always waking us up climbing over us and deciding whose bed is the most comfy to sleep on.

I noticed the bin had been pushed aside and the flap must have been pulled up where Charlie had sneaked out.
The scene was horrendous, there wasn't blood and guts everywhere but poor Charlies head was gone, where it had gone I have no idea! I identified him from his tail which was black with a white tip. I couldn't touch him and although the kids knew he was there they hadn't come outside to see him so I decided to cover him up so they didn't have to witness the horrible scene.

A few years ago our cat Toffee (Coco's sister) had died and we buried her in the garden but the foxes continually dug where she was buried. We decided that as Charlie was out on the street we would call the council and get them to collect his body.

We don't know exactly what happened to Charlie, we hope it was a terrible accident or even that another animal such as a fox had attacked him because we know that in nature that sadly these things happen, but hopefully it wasn't something more sinister and Charlie was not taken purposely by another person.

We do know that we loved having him for the short time he was with us and that we will miss having him in our home!

RIP Charlie Whiskers

Thorpe Park

Last week we were lucky enough to be given Four free tickets to Thorpe park from Mumsnet, these were to take part in the #myfirstcoaster event to celebrate reaching 1.4m and being tall enough to ride on the 'big boy' rollercoasters.

If you read my last post on Thorpe park you would know that I wasn't planning to return to any sort of theme park (unless it's Disneyland) as I am not a big fan of the sick feeling you get after queuing for an hour to spend less than a minute in all sorts of angles, hundreds of feet up in the air! But I couldn't let Kieron miss out on the experience of trying the grown up rides for the first time.

The first stop was the Angry Birds 4D cinema experience, I wasn't expecting much from this as I am not really an Angry Birds fan but we all really enjoyed the surprises and I found that I was actually moving around to avoid things coming out of the screen.

It was a pretty cold and miserable day so we avoided the water rides, which was a shame as these are usually my favourite (no hanging upside down) The kids went on the boat slides but there is not much splash back from these, unlike the others! We did go to a few of the rides that only had five minute queues as I thought they would be tame however the massive swing that is Rush actually gave me nightmares! It didn't seem to faze the children though! 

Luckily the picture isn't clear enough to see me screaming!

We chose to eat in the Pizza and Pasta buffet restaurant as it is the only meal that all my kids will actually eat and we wanted to get in out of the cold for a while. I thought they were reasonably priced but didn't like that they give out little plates so you had to keep going back up to get food. There wasn't many choices either but it seemed to fill us all up so there were no complaints.

The park wasn't too packed as it is only the start of the season which meant there were not too many long queues but there were a lot of groups of teenagers and I didn't notice many things for families with younger children which is a shame, I think if there were then it would attract more family groups. There is an outdoor beach which I have never been in but this was closed, I think there should be more areas where people can sit and relax dotted around as not everybody wants to spend the whole day on rides and may choose to bring their own snacks rather than sitting in the many food places on offer.

The kids favourite rides were Swarm and Nemesis Inferno but the highlight of Kieron's day was having his picture taken with The Sideman... a group of youtube vloggers that he follows

The highlight of my day was this Vanilla latte I picked up on the way out to warm me up and prepare me for the long journey home.

This post is linked up to #countrykids over at Coombe Mill

Halloween at our house

Halloween is not a massive event at our house, I mean we don't go overboard and decorate the whole house and it's a bit too close to Christmas to spend too much money when we could be using it for gifts. We do however like to dress up and eat loads of candy...well who doesn't?

Yes I have to live with these creatures...

I don't normally buy any expensive outfits for the occasion, I think the vampire outfit is actually from the pound shop! I find when dressing up that its better to improvise with what you have and throw a bit of face paint in.

The kids love to go out trick or treating, they usually go in a group because it can be very frightening when there are werewolves, witches and all sorts roaming the streets!

I like to sit at home with my big bowl of goodies for the scary callers (hoping that nobody will knock so I can eat all the sweets for myself) We usually put some decorations in the window or on the door so that others know we are happy for them to knock because I know some people do not like being pestered all night.

What will you be doing for Halloween, dressing up and partying the night away or closing the curtains and having an early night?

Going ape with Vimto

Last weekend we were lucky enough to take a trip to Go Ape in Tilgate park, Crawley thanks to the Vimto team. Go Ape is a forest adventure where you get to climb across obstacles and slide down zip wires while up in the trees.

Not to be outdone by the kids, the dad and I also had to get our safety gear on to brave the heights, although dad wasn't too brave and dropped out after the first hurdle!
It doesn't look too high when you are on the ground but is actually quite terrifying when you are up there!

The kids were a bit reluctant when they started and Kieron especially needed some encouragement but after about ten minutes they were flying around like professionals and left me behind!

After an hour in the Junior tree top adventure the kids received their certificates and stickers to prove that they're the king of the jungle. It was quite a warm day and the kids worked up a thirst so they were pleased to have their big bottles of water and Vimto squeezy water enhancers to hand.

Tilgate park is a lovely setting to have a Go ape, there is a beautiful green to sit and have a picnic and this very picturesque lake where the kids enjoyed looking at the ducks and boats while drinking their Vimto.

The little squeezy Vimto bottles were perfect to bring with us on the train as we were able to buy the bottled water at the station on arrival and didn't need any heavy bags to carry. The drinks come in three flavours and are sugar free so great for all the family. I think strawberry was the overall winner on the taste test. Not sure that I would use the ultra concentrated drink (each bottle has 25 servings) at home as I think they are a bit of a novelty for the kids and caught them pouring the Vimto straight onto their hands to taste it but they are perfect for keeping in your bag and using while out and about or on day trips like Go Ape.

disclaimer: We were given samples of Vimto squeezy and a family ticket for Go Ape junior tree top adventure for review purposes but all opinions are our own.

This post is linked up with #countrykids over at Coombe mill.

Siblings - June

Having one child that loves the camera and three others that try to avoid it at all costs means it's a very rare occasion that I get any nice photos of them together.

The two youngest normally fight like cat and dog, so as I managed to get a picture of them both together and smiling I just had to share. Hopefully at some point I can get one of all four of them in the same shot but I can't promise that they will all be happy!

This post is linked up to Dear Beautiful's family portrait project on the link below.

Half term sputterings

I do love half terms but after the noise, being eaten out of house and home, having the house in a complete mess and spending most of my time with these....

I am quite looking forward to going back to my routine. Although it has been nice to have some time to blog!

The beginning of the week I got to spend some time with 2 gorgeous 7 month old babies; my niece..

and my granddaughter (yes I know, I'm too young to even have children let alone grandchildren!)...

We got to spend a bit of time outside and I took little man to watch The Lego Movie but by Wednesday I was down with the cold and grateful to have the Xbox, board games and playing cards to occupy the children.

It's nice having teenagers because they already have their social lives planned when they're off school so I don't have to worry about entertaining them.

Anyway, off to make sure the school uniforms have actually been washed and homework done (as you do on a Sunday evening) Hope you have all had a great half term x

Learning to swim

Today was the day my little man swam for the first time!

Okay I know it's not a big deal considering he's 9 years old and these days parents are putting their kids in for lessons from about 3 months of age but for him it's a great achievement.

For the whole summer I tried to get him to swim, we spent most of our holiday in the pool and although he wasn't scared of the water, the minute I tried to get his feet from the bottom of the pool he clung onto me like a little koala bear and wouldn't let go. I told him it was so easy once you had the confidence to float on the water but he insisted it was impossible and he was never going to be able to do it!

From the beginning of yr4 he has been going for lessons with school every Thursday. I take my class straight after his so as he is getting out the pool my class are just getting in and I must say I'm amazed at the progress so many of the children have made in only a few months. Considering their lessons are only 30 minutes long and some of the kids could just about walk through the water at the beginning of term I'm so pleased with how much they have learnt so far.

Swimming is such an important life skill that I think everybody should be encouraged to take up if they are not proficient enough as it could potentially save a life. Plus it is such a fun activity too!

I would love to spend more time swimming with the kids like I did when I was younger. We would go every Monday after school and on the way home we would go to the chip shop for a bag of chips, open with a little wooden fork and loads of salt and vinegar.

I think when it gets a bit warmer that's what we'll do...

Meal plan plan

With my car out of use it's meant I've had to go into the smaller, more local supermarkets and pick up what I need nearly everyday and carry the heavy bags (I do miss having a pushchair to throw all my shopping on) home or struggle on and off the little, packed bus.

I've done online shopping with all the major supermarkets in the past and as I'd recently installed the Tesco app onto my tab I thought I would give it a try.

The first thing I noticed on the home page were the half price, bogof and offers link... I am such a sucker for these! So quickly filled my basket with all those goodies that are not actually good for you at all but oh they do taste good!!

Cupboard essentials, a months supply of toilet roll, cat food and packed lunch fillers soon added up and the basket totted up to over £100.

After having all my shopping delivered I thought about what I would cook for dinner, realising I didn't actually have much of a choice. I missed the whole frozen section during my shopping because I am waiting for my oven to be delivered so whatever I was cooking would have to be on the hob.

I hadn't actually planned very well and although I always have some sort of idea of what I'm going to feed the family I think the time has come to put it down on paper.

I'm thinking a meal plan will make me more organised meaning I don't have to run around after work wondering what to buy for dinner, it should be better financially because less trips to the shops means less picking up those offers on crisps and chocolate that I just have to have, and hopefully I will be trying out some new recipes that I always intend to do but never get round to.

I have seen some blogs with fab recipes so will be looking out for some good, cheap, wholesome meals I can feed the clan.

If you have any tips on meal planning they will be greatly appreciated!

GCSE emotions

So the results are in!!

As it wasn't that long ago that I was collecting my own GCSEs it was all too familiar feeling of worry and nervousness. In fact as a parent I think the suspense was harder to deal with, maybe because we know the importance of preparing for the future, we can look back and see how the choices we made affect where we are now and for some (myself included) if the opportunity was there we would go back and do things differently.

So as I found out my sons results;
English B
Maths B
History B
Sociology B
ICT C
RE C
French C
Media studies C
Science D


There were a mixture of emotions that I felt that reflected how I felt when I opened my own envelope.

My first thought was how disappointed I was, I mean I know that sounds bad because his results are pretty good, but as I said to him his results are good for an average child and he was never ranked average at school. From a young age, even as a summer baby and being the youngest in his class he was always in the top groups for Literacy and Numeracy and he has always been praised as being 'such a bright boy' by his teachers. His main downfall is how lazy he is, the minute school is over he sees that as his free time to do what he wants (mainly play Xbox games) and so I feel partly responsible that his grades were not better (he was predicted a few As) as I didn't push him with his homework/revision as much as I should have.

At the same time as being disappointed I was also relieved, he had already got into 6th form at his school to study History, Sociology and Government and Politics A levels but if he also wanted do his English A level (which is the most important one as he wants to be a journalist) then he had to get a B or above in his English GCSE... thankfully he did!

Overall I mostly felt proud, for a start he got better grades than I did (5 Cs, 5 Ds and an E) and his dad didn't even do GCSEs as he was expelled from school! He kind of outdid the both of us so it would be irrational for us to complain.

I'm wondering if its wrong to put such high expectations on your children when it comes to exams, on the one hand it shows you believe in them and can encourage them to push themselves but at the same time does it just stress them out and set you all up for disappointment when they don't achieve what you're expecting?

Im going to be a grandma!!

I wrote my bucketlist earlier this year and expressed that one day I would like to become a grandmother, I mean bucketlists are like a to-do list of your whole life and thinking waaaay into the future (just the term grandma makes me think of being around 70!) I thought it is actually something I'm looking forward to being.

My eldest child is 15 so I'm very pleased to announce that none of my biological children are actually expecting a baby!

When I met the man, many moons ago- 17 years to be exact, he introduced me to a very sweet little 4 year old... his daughter. Who is now Miss 21!

They were very close and she would stay with him every other weekend and when he and I moved in together she continued to stay over weekends and holidays. Being  a sweet natured and placid girl she is a lot like me so we get on very well, although as like many children with step parents we did go through the 'you're not my mum, you can't tell me what to do' stage at around the age of 7 but I think that is to be expected and not taken to heart.

Growing up we saw less and less of Miss 21, as she started secondary school and was busy with all the extra curricular activities that go along with it. Then turning into a teenager and wanting to spend all her free time with her friends. More recently starting work and I suppose just busy having a life, not sure myself what that's like as I was a mum of 3 by the age of 21!!

Everytime Miss 21 does visit us she is questioned by the man, particularly about whether or not she has a boyfriend and the answer is always 'no' I'm sure that's because he has always said since she was little that shes not allowed a boyfriend until she is 30.

So it came as quite a surprise when we get a phone call the other day to say not only is she expecting but the baby is due pretty soon :-o

I can imagine how nerve wracking it was to pick up the phone and call her dad to tell him the news but he was very reassuring that she should have called sooner and he would never be disappointed in her, although it was a slightly different story when he came off the phone and was none too pleased... probably at the thought of becoming a grandad!!

All I know is that recently I was feeling broody (maybe my instincts were telling me there was a new baby coming into the family) but now my mind is definitely made up and I do not want to be having children with the next generation. My Implanon implant has just expired and I'm going to call the doctors first thing tomorrow to get a new one put in!

4 Kids and never been called mum!

I'm not saying my kids don't talk to me, I mean I'm not really that bad a mother...  but for some reason they find it really difficult moving on from the name Mummy.

My eldest son is nearly 16 and over 6ft tall so it would be a bit strange hearing him call me Mummy. No what he calls me is even worse... it's Mother! He's always had a bit of posh about him, considering his dad grew up in Brixton and I grew up in Hackney only God knows where he got the posh lingo from and his dad is not too pleased about being called Father!

My 14 year old actually tries her hardest not to call me Mummy but she cant help herself and it just comes out. As she's recently been taking Spanish classes the new thing she calls me is Madre, unless of course she wants something then its back to 'Muummmyyy'

At 11yrs and 8yrs the youngest two seem to still feel comfortable with the term Mummy and not sure that they're ready to move on from that just yet (although there are times when they probably think of a few other names to call me) and I'm not sure if I am ready for them to move on either, they seem to be growing too quick as it is!

What age did your children go from calling, screaming, crying, whining or whimpering "Mummy" and is there a certain age that is just too old for that, I mean I'm sure Prince Charles still calls the Queen Mummy!

Offspring of the month

I took my daughter (miss14) shopping the other day, she's been hounding me for weeks to go and buy summer clothes but as there was no sign of the sun and not a lot of money in the bank I resisted until I couldn't take the nagging anymore.

So we went to the local shopping centre. It was a miserable day but the shops were still packed with optimistic customers buying all their summer gear.

Having 4 children that never stop growing (I'm sure there's some sort of growth hormone added to food nowadays) I thought it was best to get a few bits for all of them, just incase it did suddenly get hot...unlikely!

Filling my basket with t-shirts, shorts, dresses, swimwear and sunglasses for miss10 and mr8 I was forgetting all about the child with me and she wasn't too impressed. Miss14 got a maxi skirt with a vest top and a dress but when I said it's time to go to the till and pay she started sulking. I explained that I would have to endure that embarrassing moment of telling the cashier to take some things off because I don't have enough money to pay for it, but kids don't seem to care where the money comes from when they want things!

After getting home and still with a long list of stuff she wanted, miss14 decided that her dad and I should choose an 'Offspring of the month'.
The idea is whoever does the most chores, makes hot drinks, keeps their room clean and is the best behaved should be treated to something they want, ie a shopping trip or a computer game. And with the mention of a computer game mr8 comes running in the room with an inquisitive look on his face asking who's getting a new computer game?

Now she knows being the eldest daughter of the house (as was I) that it's only inevitable that you are going to do the most in the house, it's always the way, isn't it? So this is her way of getting new clothes every month.

I personally think all my children get their fair share of things they want (they would probably disagree) and they all have to earn it in their own way, but if I were to adopt this reward system my poor sons would never get anything!
Miss14 may just have to wait a while for her next shopping spree.