Kids Don't Come With A Manual : Book Review & Giveaway

How many time's have you heard the phrase " I wish kids came with a manual?" lots of times I bet, I for one know that I have uttered those very words myself on more than one occasion. Everything you buy these days has a manual, but when you have children who are the most precious thing in the world to you, we are expected to just get on with things on our own.

Being a parent is amazing and yes we do trust our instincts and manage to look after our children just fine. But sometimes it is hard. I have a teen a toddler and a baby and their behaviours can be so challenging at times. Sometime we may snap at our child, or they may reduce us to tears or they may be able to manipulate us by playing one parent of the other one. I know my children have done all of these things on a regular occurrence. And you know what I feel rubbish about it, I feel like a bit of rubbish mum at times when my toddler is having a tantrum or my teen is refusing to do something.

What I Would Say To A New Mum

When you have a baby you are bombarded with well-meaning advice from your relatives and even random people you meet in the street. Everyone will have something to say to you, no matter if it is your first or third child. My third baby is eight months old and I still get it all the time. You get so much advice, many of it conflicting and you don't know what to listen to and what not as having a baby is such an amazing and life-changing, but let's face it sometimes a rather difficult period in a persons life. 

My Sunday Photo 26.04.15

My eldest and other half love going in the rowing boats at the local park when it is warm.

The North East Baby And Toddler Show : Ticket Giveaway * Closed *

On Saturday the 16th of May 2015 the North East baby and toddler show will be coming to Gateshead international stadium, it looks set to be a great event for all us parents and parents to be here in the North East. And I for one can not wait as I love discovering new products and service and this event will be a great way to find out more about products and classes available for us parents here in the North East. 

Slimming World: Week Two

I have found my second week on Slimming World easier than my first as I have not been craving chocolate and crisps as much as I did in my first week. I am actually really enjoying eating lots of fruit and salads now that the weather is getting warmer.

After I got weighed last week I did go off track a bit and I did eat a ham salad baguette with mayonnaise on from Gregg's and a cake but I synned them and got straight back on track and have found that I have stuck to plan all week. I have also found that I have been using less syns this week simply because I have been too full of all the meals and free foods that I have been eating to want anything else. I have mainly been using my syns on sauces to go with my food and the odd packet of crisps. 

The DreamSnatcher By Abi Elphinstone : Book Review

A while ago my oldest daughter was sent a copy of The Dreamsnatcher a debut novel by Abi Elphinstone. Being a typical twelve year old she never got around to finishing the book as she is always out with her friends, so yesterday afternoon I started to read it myself and I was hooked and read the whole book in one afternoon.

Slimming World Diet Coke Chicken Recipe

Since joining Slimming World i have been trying out lots of new foods and recipes and one of the recipes i kept hearing was diet coke chicken. When i first heard of this i thought it sounded awful but people said it was nice so i gave it a try and i actually liked it and my twelve year old loves it. So here is the recipe. 

You will need

• A bag of chicken or 2-4 chicken breasts.
• 2 cloves of garlic.
• 1 large or 2 small onions.
• Red and green pepper.
• 1 can of diet coke.
• 8 tbsp passata.
• 1 tbsp dark soy sauce.
• 4 tbsp tomato puree.
• 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce.
• 1 tsp dried mixed herbs.
• 200 ml chicken stock.
• Fry light cooking spray

To Make

Chop the chicken into chunks and also the peppers, finely dice the onions and garlic cloves. Then spray a pan with frylight on a high heat. Add the chicken , peppers and onions to the pan until they are golden brown. Once they are cooked add the full can of diet cola, the passata, tomato puree, garlic, chicken stock, Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce and mixed herbs and stir it all together well. Bring it to the boil and then simmer on a medium heat to thicken the sauce up. Once it is all cooked and the sauce has thickened it is ready to serve. 

To serve

I had mine with boiled rice and a few sweet potato slimming world style chips. But you could have it with anything you like such as chips, wedges, baked potatoes, rice or noodles. It is a really easy to make simple dish and it is all free on the extra easy eating plan so you can eat as much of it as you like. 

To find out more about Slimming World or find your nearest group visit there website . 

                  Follow Me : Twitter / Facebook / Instagram / Pinterest / Bloglovin 

Cbeebies Live - Mr Tumbles Circus

Last Monday we were lucky enough to go to see Cbeebies live Justin and Friends : Mr Tumbles circus show at Newcastle's Metro radio arena. I took my toddler Sophia with me who is 22 months and also my brothers partner and my three year old niece Heidi came along too.

We were running late to the show as Sophia wanted to stop and stare at everything on are short walk to the arena from the Metro at Central station. But we made it to are seats just moments before the show started.

The stage was full of lights and music right from the start to keep little ones entertained. It was the first time i have taken Sophia to a show and she was amazed when she seen what was going on although she would not sit still and was trying to wonder about, but my three year old niece was enjoying the show so much she sat still and watched the whole show in amazement.

The show started with Cbeebies character Robert Robot from Justin's house followed by cbeebies favourites Andy, Kat and Gem followed by Justin himself. I think every child loves Justin and all the charceters he plays, i remember my oldest daughter use to love him twelve years ago when he was in Tikkabella on Cbeebies and we seen him at a show about seven years ago.

The show starts with Robert the Robot who is determined to get all of the jobs on his list complete before any one can enjoy the circus. This sees the cast feeding Tiddles the dinosaur who Sophia loved as she is a bit dinosaur obsessed. Keith Fit also took the stage with some dads from the audience to do some weightlifting and this was followed by getting the audience involved by splitting the audience in teams to cheer the dads on and passing a giant ball around the audience to see which team would win, are side lost.

Aunt Polly also made an appearance, appearing in the audience and squirting everyone with a water gun as she made her way to the stage. Where her washing machine broke and filled the stage with bubbles.

There was then a twenty minute break as the first half had been on for an hour. The second part of the show seen Mr Tumble himself take the stage singing Let me entertain you, and the audience went wild when they seen him appear at the back of the audience and make his way to the stage to loud cheers. He sang his hello song and you could hear all the children joining in with him. And he was whizzing around the stage in his rocket car which everyone loved.

Then Mr Tumbles circus took place and there was jugglers, acrobats, plate spinning and unicyclist to entertain us along with Mr Tumble himself. The second half lasted forty minutes and was full of songs, bright lights and all the fun of the circus.

The show ended with lots of songs from all the characters and the dancers on stage.

Overall i thought the show was great and the audience seemed to love it. The only bad thing i can say about the show is that Mr Tumble did not seem to be on very much and i know that a lot of children wanted to see more of him as every time he came on there was so much cheering from the audience. But Justin did an amazing job of playing so many characters in one show. And i am sure i will be taking Sophia to see another Cbeebies show in the future as they are perfect for young children.

Disclosure : I was sent four tickets to attend this show free of charge for the purpose of this review, however all opinions are my own honest account of the show. 


                   Follow Me : Twitter / Facebook / Instagram / Pinterest / Bloglovin 

Slimming World - Week One

Last week you may have seen that I joined Slimming World as I was feeling down about all the baby weight I have gained and felt it was time to do something about it. My first week went well I managed to stick to the eating plan really easy and was amazed at how much I could actually eat, as there was no weighing or calorie counting involved at all. 

 I did not feel like I was on a diet as I was eating big portions of the same meals my family were having and have never once felt hungry. I actually think I have eaten more this last week then I did before I started, which is crazy. And after a few days, I was feeling so much better I had more energy and my skin is starting to feel smoother which I am guessing is from getting rid of all the junk out my diet.

A Teddy Bear Picnic Is Better With Cake.

Here in Newcastle, it is still the Easter half term and being a mum to three children of very different age ranges means that finding activities that are suitable for all three children is near enough impossible. I have a twelve-year-old who would rather be out with her friends, a toddler who just wants to run wild all day long and a baby who just wants cuddles. And juggling all three on a day out on my own when their dad is at work is just to much hard work at times. So I have been staying in a lot more then normal and have heard lots of cries of  'i'm bored' and contending with a toddler trashing the house due to boredom. 

Bennetts Baby Skincare Products Review

When you have a baby you do everything you can to protect them and when it comes to bath time you only want to use the best skincare products on them, as you know that they have such delicate skin. My two girls both suffer from eczema and that puts my baby boy at a risk of developing this himself, so I am extra careful with what products I use on his skin. 

So when I was asked if I would like to review some Bennett's Baby skincare products which are suitable for eczema prone skin I thought these would be ideal for his delicate sensitive skin. I had never heard of Bennett's baby skincare products before but they are the best selling baby skin care brand in South Africa and were established over fifty years ago. 

Joining Slimming World

On Thursday I took the plunge and joined Slimming World. If you read my weight loss letter to myself  you will see that I have been unhappy with my weight since baby number three was born last year, and I was trying and failing to lose weight on my own.

 Every Monday I would start a diet and by Monday lunchtime I would have caved in, ate a bag of crisps and gave up. I was getting bigger and bigger so I knew that in order to change I had to join a Slimming World Class as it would help motivate me to eat less junk.

I decided to join Slimming World as I had been a member before, many years ago after the birth of my first daughter, and I lost all of my baby weight back when it was red and green days. I also briefly joined a few years ago and knew that Slimming Word had changed and it was now an extra easy eating plan, which was as it suggests so easy to follow. However, I was working shifts and often missed classes and I found out I was pregnant with baby number two so I stopped going to class after a few weeks.

A Weight Loss Letter To Myself

Dear Lindsay

You have been thinking of writing yourself this letter for some time, but you always put it off. I am not sure if it shame that is stopping you or if it just laziness and the fact you are scared of change, but it is time to face facts and admit you are fat. Not just fat but really overweight, you are classed as obese and it is time to do something about it as your weight is getting you down.

It might sound totally crazy to write yourself a letter and publish it on the Internet, that is if you even press publish. But hopefully, by writing this letter and admitting you have a weight problem you will face up to facts and actually start doing something about it. Start eating healthy, start getting active and losing all this baby weight that is getting you down. I know you have never been skinny and you never will be and you're okay with that. You just want to lose your tummy and slim down a bit, be healthier and happier in your own skin.

Foods To Eat When You Have Gallstones

When I was 32 weeks pregnant with baby number two I suffered horrendous tummy pains - seriously it was more painful than childbirth! After numerous tests and an ultrasound scan I was diagnosed with gallstones, which are apparently very common during or soon after pregnancy. As I was pregnant and on a maternity ward at the time the medical staff did not give me much information other than to try and avoid foods with more than 5% fat in. 

I was unable to get my gallbladder removed due to being pregnant and there was no way I wanted to suffer that pain again (I had 4 attacks in a week). So I spent hours searching online to see what I could eat without trigging another gallstone attack. Honestly there wasn't very much information available and the information that was available was very contradictory. 

I lived with gallstones for six months before I got my gallbladder removed when my daughter was four months old. Honestly getting it removed was the best thing I did and 9 years later I have not suffered any complications or pain. Over the six months that I lived with gallstones I worked out what I could eat without triggering an attack and what foods were safe to eat with gallstones and what foods to avoid. I did have a few slip ups along the way and suffered a few more attacks whilst waiting for it to be removed, but the fear of that pain ensured I stuck to my safe foods most of the time. 

The best advice I can give is to not eat any foods with more than 5% fat in them, check labels and avoid foods that you know will trigger a gallstone attack. 

HomeExchange Memembership Giveaway * CLOSED*

Since I had my third child last year I have noticed that if you have more then two children then holiday's can be pretty expensive and a tricky business, as hotel rooms rarely cater for families of five and the cost for the five of us going abroad will be rather expensive. So when I heard of HomeExchange I thought that this would be a great idea for someone with a larger family or for families who can not afford the sky-high fee's hotels charge during school holiday's. 

HomeExchange is a company that helps you arrange to home swap with another member in over 150 countries worldwide for a holiday in each other's homes. So you go and visit another country on holiday and stay at someones home rather than a costly hotel and they go and have a holiday at your home at the same time. HomeExchange have twenty year's experience with 65,000 listings on their website and have helped over 1,000,000 exchanges take place.