Happy as a pig in mud. #MySundaySnapshot

Last weekend we went to Hull Pride and Becky especially had the best day. She has always wanted to go to a Pride event and while we were there she was happy as a pig in mud. hehehe Next year she has said she's going with her friends and not her old mam and her sister. That's fine with me, considering it was such a big event it felt so safe.

Week 31 of #Project365. 30th July - 5th August. A photo every day for a year!

Week 2 of the summer holidays went in a blur. The kids have been busy, Ellie out with friends and Becky working. She has so many shifts over the next month. In 7 days she's working six 12 hour shifts and it carries on like that until she has 4 days off for her birthday in September. She's still loving the job and the wages at the end of the month.

I have spent the week mostly waiting in for deliveries. It's that time of year, birthdays coming up and the back to school shopping to do which wasn't actually too bad this year. Two white shirts and two pairs of trousers and we were done!

Now for a photo every day!

211/365 - 30th July

We went to Hull Pride and had a fantastic day out. There was plenty of fun things going on and interesting sights to see. It felt so friendly and inclusive, just as it should be.

212/365 - 31st July

This photo was so hard to take! All I wanted was a picture of my eyebrow with some of the Hydrosil HydroBrow on which I was trying out. I ended up with about 20 photos and 19 of them my eye looked strange as I was looking in the wrong direction.

213/365 - 1st August

Stu likes to do little jobs around the house on his day off. On Monday he painted the electric box black to match the rest of the house. He also cut the grass and had a sort out in the garage.

214/365 - 2nd August

We had a pretty pink sky in the evening which was nice to see after a grey, cloudy day.

215/365 - 3rd August

I bought us a full size iron. We have been making do with a travel size one for years but Stu is using it more to iron his clothes for work and it was a chore with a little iron.

216/365 - 4th August

I ordered a present for Stu off ebay, a handmade one and this arrived in the box in a little bag saying thank you for buying from us, I thought it was cute and a nice touch.

217/365 - 5th August

I have been sent some wine to try out and took some photos yesterday afternoon. I of course had to open it and try it out. hehehe

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This week my Word of the Week is: Deliveries! #WotW

This week my Word of the Week is:

I feel like all I have done this past week is wait in for deliveries. It's that time of year with birthdays coming up and school uniform to buy.

It's Stu's birthday in about a week and a half and I said I was going to get him 50 presents for his 50th and I am getting close. At my last count I had 43 presents, all things that he wants or needs and I will top it up to 50 with chocolate and scratch cards. hehehe The deliveries that I have been getting for him this week have been fun one's, the girls have seen some of the things I have ordered and they want the same things for their birthdays. I ordered a few things off ebay and thought the prices were too good to be true but it turns out everything arrived and the things were way better than I expected. Phew!

I ordered Ellie's school uniform for September and that arrived during the week. It dawned on me that it will be the last uniform that I will ever have to order, she have left school this time next year. This is the first year I haven't had to spend a small fortune, all she needed was trousers and white shirts. I haven't even bothered buying her a coat for school because the last one I bought for her is still sat on the peg and it's only been worn a couple of times when it was absolutely chucking it down. Even when it was freezing and snowing she only wore a hoodie. 

While I was on the George at Asda website I bought a few other things we needed. Since Stu has had to wear smarter clothes for work he has been using the iron more and all we had was a little travel one. It really wasn't cutting it anymore so we gave in and bought a full size one. I also finally got some big cushions for the sofa. I have been wanting some for ages but they were all either too expensive or the wrong colour. These one's are gorgeous and I've told the kids food and drinks are going no where near them. I also treated myself to a new top. I am planning on taking Stu out for a meal and want to wear something nice, all my tops are too casual.

Becky of course been getting deliveries too, random stuff that she has bought off TikTok. The stupidest thing she has bought recently was a water bottle to drink from which also can spray water out, a mist onto your face to cool you down. It would have been amazing during the heatwave but the weather has not been the greatest here. We've had a few rainy days.

How has your week been? I hope you've had a good one.

Tips to keep kids minds busy this summer.

Did you know that summer brain drain is a thing. It is more commonly known as summer learning loss. A reflection of the ‘use it or lose it’ phenomenon, studies suggest that kids may lose anywhere from 25-50% of their school year gains over the holidays, especially in maths and whilst there is no denying the need for a break from education, without regular practice, new skills and knowledge learnt over the year can fade or be lost. 

Here are some tips on how to fight summer learning loss whilst keeping summer fun!

Bring out the board games.

By relating things that your children have learned in school to fun at home you can help make learning wonderful, inspiring, and enjoyable. Playing board games can teach kids about counting, negotiating, and taking turns. For a kid who enjoys colouring in, painting by numbers is fantastic. You can also let your kid measure or weigh the materials when cooking.

Set a reading challenge.

Libraries still do their summer reading challenges. My girls used to love them when they were little. Visiting a library can fill a morning or afternoon and borrowing a variety of books that will inspire your child to read while also providing them with a challenge.

Look beyond traditional techniques.

Let them play educational games online. There are plenty of apps out there which they can play on a phone or tablet and there are endless games they can play on a computer or laptop. I used to think Minecraft was a complete waste of time until I realised my girls could learn a lot from it.

 Take Trips to museums or the zoo and ask questions.

Family days out are a wonderful opportunity to spend time with your kids while teaching them about history, science, maths and other subjects. It has been demonstrated that children learn more when we support them in having hands on experiences like these and participate in family chats. Encourage these by asking open ended questions about what you are seeing.

Practice in short bursts but regularly for knowledge retention.

Like all other skills, Maths and English skills are developed by consistent practise. However, smaller kids have limited attention spans, so you should attempt to keep study sessions brief no more than 15 minutes at a time. It is best to keep study periods brief and frequent rather than long and infrequent. The confidence of your child will increase as they learn more. 

Summer break is a time for you and your child to have fun. Introducing some new activities into your family’s routine can make the summer holidays entertaining whilst keeping your child ahead of the game for the next school year.

How do you keep your kids brains active over the summer holidays?