Some things never change.... #wickedwednesdays

This is from about five or six years ago.....They had been asked to tidy their room but had found better things to do....They are obviously not tidying up like they are supposed to be....

Nothing much has changed in five years....They still get asked to tidy their rooms and find better things to do....lol

Hotel Tycoon - Review!

We were recently sent the board game Hotel Tycoon by Esdevium Games to have a play with.....

Hotel Tycoon is a refresh of the classic 70s game of ‘Hotel’, which has now been brought to the 21st Century with an upgraded look, feel and gameplay. The new edition includes an astonishing array of components, including twenty-eight hotel buildings that players add to the colourful game board as they progress.

  

Players take turns to jet around the board snapping title deeds, then it’s time to build their stunning Hotels – from the ice palaces of the Artika, to the skyscrapers of Uptown Towers. And if their guests stay long enough, they might just go bankrupt when it’s time to pay the bill!

Before we got around to playing we had the hotels to make....It looked a bit daunting to start with but everything was quite simple to assemble....

 The end result was brilliant and well worth the 15 minutes or so it took to put all the buildings together.....

We do like games like this....We are a huge fan of Monopoly and I expected it to be just like that....It's not! It's better!!

Aimed at children aged 8 and over it was perfect to play as a family.....Ellie is my youngest girl and has just turned 8 and she managed to play with a little help...

It is great for teaching children about money and tactical skills....I don't want to compare it to Monopoly but I think this is more appealing for younger people as it is so bright and colourful which pulls them into it....The buildings are also just fantastic!  

I had to read the instructions a couple of times to get an idea of how to play and I had to keep referring back to them throughout the game but I think next time we play we will have the hang of it.....

 
I'm not going to try and explain the game play but the gist of it is you move around the board buying the resorts, building on the resorts and making money!! The aim of the game is to bankrupt everyone.....Some players might not be happy about this....hehehe I have a couple of sore losers in my little family....

It took us about an hour and a half to play a full game but there are several options given in the game instructions to speed up or simplify the game.....

We had a great time playing Hotel Tycoon.....The girls have asked to play again already and I think we will on Saturday night when there is no X-Factor on again! 

When I was packing it back into it's box I didn't expect all the buildings to fit back in but they did! Phew! 

This would be a fantastic game to play as a family on a games night or dare I even say at Christmas.....You can buy this from most places which sell board games....Toys R Us, Argos, Amazon, The Entertainer, Tesco, Smyths Toys and even Harrods...Do look around as I noticed the price does vary from £14.99 all the way up to £24.99....

We were sent Hotel Tycoon free of charge for our honest review.....This is it! All thoughts and opinions are our own!

Our Weekly Meal Plan!! - #mealplanningmonday

Last weeks meal plan just didn't really happen.....We ate one of the meals I planned last week and that wasn't on the day I planned....lol

The meal plan was planned around Becky not being able to eat properly with getting her braces....She did so well and has hardly been in any pain so she was eating different food to what I expected......So at least the meal plan didn't work because of a positive! 

Instead we've had quiche, tuna pasta, sandwiches, sushi and a sneaky Dominos which I didn't think Becky would have been able to eat for weeks....She took it slowly but thoroughly enjoyed it.

This week on the menu we have:

Monday - Roast chicken dinner....

Tuesday - Chicken stir fry & noodles....

Wednesday - Tuna pasta bake....

Thursday - Corned beef pie, chips and beans....

Friday - Something out of the freezer....

Saturday - Prawn cocktail salad....

Sunday - Mince and dumplings....

As always I've joined in with the wonderful Mrs M's #mealplanningmonday linky....

Chalks - #MySundayPhoto

Project 365 - Week 39

This was the week my girl got braces, the weather turned chillier and I got lots of parcels....Most of it Christmas shopping and teeth cleaning supplies....lol

262/365. 19th September 2015

A creeper from the Minecraft paper set Becky got for her birthday....It has finally all been put together and has had a lot of use....

263/365. 20th September 2015

An epic hot chocolate! Marshmallows cream and a Flake sprinkled and stuck in! 

264/365. 21st September 2015

Becky's braces were put on....She has done so well this week!

265/365. 22nd September 2015

Lunchtime!  

266/365. 23rd September 2015

Someone was serving a ban from her tablet....She decided instead of sitting there huffing at me she would do some drawing....

267/365. 24th September 2015

Ellie played with 6 bottles filled with water for hours.....It's the simple things in life.....

 

268/365. 25th September 2015 

When it gets to Friday sometimes we need to just relax a little.....hehehe

5 Days with Braces - #WotW

This week my Word of the Week has to be...

Becky finally got her braces....Hooray! I seem to have been talking about it and worrying about it for ages....

I rang and told the school she wouldn't be in on Monday and they were not too happy.....They said she should have gone in for her mark on the morning then back in for lunchtime....Her teeth wouldn't be sore until after school said the woman on the phone! Grrr! They wanted her to do the half an hour walk there to be in school for half an hour then half an hour walk home.....Then half an hour to the dentists then home....Then half an hour to back to school then home at the end of the day! No! was my answer!

Anyway on Monday morning we went and she had her braces put on which was painless and only took about half an hour.....When we were walking home the pain started :( She was a trooper and made it home and had some painkillers....

She could hardly talk but once the painkillers kicked in at least she wasn't in pain.....She struggled to eat soup for lunch and I am so glad I never sent her to school....By tea time she was even sorer but a big bowl of custard made her feel a little better.....

Tuesday morning she woke up in pain and was struggling.....I gave her some tough love and said she had to eat because having painkillers on an empty stomach was a bad idea! There was tears from her and nearly me but she ate, had painkillers and went off to school.....She had a great day! She had pasta for lunch and didn't bother taking any painkillers at lunch time came home and ate more pasta....This time with tuna & mayo. Hooray! She went to bed but came down an hour or so later and said her mouth was sore....More painkillers.....

Wednesday she managed cereal for breakfast, mash and gravy for lunch and quiche and baked beans for tea.....The meal plan has gone right out of the window this week.....She didn't have any painkillers at all.....

Thursday she had toast for breakfast, pasta for lunch and Corned beef hash for tea and a cheese sandwich....I think she is making up for all the food she hasn't eaten this week.....She has just about got the hang of eating again! It just feels strange for her.....She is talking better, has no sore patches in her mouth and hardly any pain....Last night she had a couple of squares of chocolate since the weekend and enjoyed every second!

The dentist said she only ate mashed potato and gravy for about 2 weeks because she couldn't chew anything when she first had braces!....My girl is either one of the lucky one's or such a trooper! I seriously thought it was going to be a week of hell for her but it hasn't actually been that bad....All the information we have been given seems to be like worst case scenario....

There has been some low points of course.....When she was eating soup for the first time and crying not because it hurt but because it felt so strange and some funny moments.....On Monday she went in the shower and got water on her braces and panicked....The silly lass! lol...She had been drinking water all day so I don't know what she thought was going to happen....She is craving pizza from Domino's but I don't think she's quite ready for that. She said she was dreaming about it....lol I think we are a couple of weeks off that!!

I am so proud of my girl for being so brave and brushing her teeth so well.....She has a new obsession for mouthwash. I think Listerine are going to have a lot of money from me by the time she gets her braces off....lol

An afternoon for us at Brewers Fayre....

Every week I enter the giveaway on the Brewers Fayre Twitter page where they give away a £30 voucher.....Well I only went and won a little while ago.....Hooray!

Stu and I decided after I had a pretty rotten week last week we needed a treat and a meal out at Brewers Fayre was just the treat we needed.....Yes we could have gone with the kids....They love Brewers Fayre. It has the soft play but we decided to do something just for us....

We don't go out often just the two of us....I think the last time we did was probably last year and the time before that the year before....We obviously go shopping and to appointments....All the day to day things but nothing just for us...

Yes I felt the dreaded mummy guilt.....Thinking we could have gone as a family but the girls get a lot of treats....This one was just for us.....We visited the Woodhorn Grange, Brewers Fayre in Ashington....

I had the same as I do every time I have a pub meal.....lol Prawn cocktail for my starters and Scampi, chips and peas for my main.....Stu had Chicken goujons and dips for his starters and a mixed grill for his main course.....I'm ashamed to say we didn't have room for dessert...The portions were such a great size....

 It's a shame but we have decided we won't be visiting again on a Friday lunchtime.....The service wasn't what we have come to expect from Brewers Fayre....We go at least a few times a year and there was little things that were just not right which didn't make it a terrible experience but we have had better meals in our local Brewers Fayre....

I was given a dirty glass for my drink....There was something brown stuck to the inside....Eww! The prawn cocktail was lovely until I got the lettuce...It was the really thick bit you get from the bottom of a lettuce....Not exactly the leaves....The Chilli powder or whatever is sprinkled on the prawn cocktail it's self does not taste nice when also sprinkled on the bread....There was a mix up with the meal they decided to bring gammon and chips out to us too which we didn't order. (It was removed from the bill and we sent it back)....There was no staff to ask for tomato ketchup....We waited about 10 minutes and saw no one....Stu ended up going to the bar to ask for some.....It wasn't the waiting staff's fault....It was absolutely packed and there was only three staff serving the food and attending to people....It is a big place and as it was busy it just came across as understaffed.....

We still had a lovely time....It was nice to have a proper chat without being interrupted but the girls and we got to relax a bit....The biggest bonus was that the whole meal only cost us £2.56.....hehehe

Do go and visit the Brewers Fayre Twitter page. Most Fridays they ask a simple pub quiz question....It is just a case of answering it....You could be the next winner..... 

I wasn't asked to write this.....I just thought I would....I won the voucher fair and square in a giveaway!

When painting goes wrong - #wickedwednesdays

More old photos.....This is why I hated painting with my girls for so long....It would always descend into chaos....lol

Mister Cleghorn's Seal - Book Review!

What do you do if you find an abandoned seal pup on a rock in the middle of the sea? Well, take it home with you to your flat, of course. At least that’s what Mr Albert Cleghorn thought, though perhaps he hadn’t considered all the complications…

This is the story of what then happened to Mr Cleghorn and Charlie the seal in their determination to find a home for Charlie and, incidentally, happiness for them both.

Sometimes funny, sometimes sad, Mister Cleghorn’s Seal is a classic in the making from the inimitable Judith Kerr also famous for writing The Tiger that came to Tea and the Mog book series....

Aimed at children 7 years plus I thought it was ideal for Ellie....She's 8 and a good reader......She has read a little every night and has thoroughly enjoyed it.....

It is a beautifully illustrated book....One of the best I have seen in a long time....

 The story is lovely but the Afterward tells Mister Cleghorn’s Seal is inspired by a story her father told her about taking in an abandoned seal pup and keeping it on his balcony....I won't ruin it but the afterward nearly made me cry.....

This is such a touching story which is well worth a read....Perfect for young readers! 

We were sent this Mister Cleghorn’s Seal free of charge in exchange for this blog post....All opinions and thoughts are our own....

Our Weekly Meal Plan!! - #mealplanningmonday

This week is going to be a bit of a strange one for meal planning.....Later today Becky gets her braces on....She is actually quite excited about it....Me, not so much! I don't know if Becky is going to be able to eat anything apart from soup....Time will tell....We are well aware she won't be able to eat anything she has to chew for a few days so I am going to try and work around that with lots of soft foods....

When I was doing the shopping on Friday I did consider buying her jars of baby food for the first few days....hehehe I settled on soup, yoghurt's and rice pudding....Stu will be fending for himself if he doesn't want to eat what we are eating.....

This week on the menu we have:

Monday - Soup....

Tuesday - Corned Beef hash & Baked beans....

Wednesday - Scrambled eggs, ham and toast....

Thursday - Tuna & Pasta Cheddar Melt....

Friday - A curry of some sort with rice....

Saturday - Sloppy Joes....

Sunday - Cottage Pie....

 
As always I've joined in with the wonderful Mrs M's #mealplanningmonday linky....

Concentration #MySundayPhoto

Drawing the characters from the film Inside Out....

 

 

Project 365 - Week 38

Time for Project 365 again. When it says week 38 it makes me realise how we are closing in onto the end of the year! Eek!

I had another rubbish week for taking photos.....I nearly managed one every day....I ended up having have pinch one from Becky....hehehe

 

255/365. 12th September 2015

Domino's....A late birthday treat for Becky! We ate it all eventually....Warmed up pizza the next day always tastes so good....

256/365. 13th September 2015

It turns out if you leave my girl alone with insulating tape a teddy and a doll this will happen.....So scary!

 

257/365. 14th September 2015

This last week hasn't been the best week for one reason and another....I spent a fair bit of it dealing with the Child maintenance people....Gladly something is sorted now and I now receive £7 a week from Becky's biological father. I suppose it's better than nothing which I have been getting for the last 8 years or so!

258/365. 15th September 2015

Since Becky got an Instagram account she is obsessed with taking photos! Photos of everything including me! lol

 

259/365. 16th September 2015

Last weekend I didn't do the usual weekly grocery shop....The cupboards were rammed full. Mid week they were starting to go down a bit....We still have a crazy amount of beans and tins of beans and sausages!

260/365. 17th September 2015

Pea and Ham soup....Looks like dog vomit but tastes so good....

 

261/365. 18th September 2015

My fella and I went out for lunch....It was Friday so we had cheeky drink.....It felt so naughty but I have found out I love Wild Berries Rekorderlig Cider....hehehe

One of those weeks - #WotW

This week my Word of the Week is....

This is my second time writing this post. I had a whole different post with a different word.....The last one was really negative and blah and I deleted it! This one isn't much better but it certainly sums up how I feel about this week....Glad it's over!!

I have been a very angry and frustrated person this week and I have hated myself for it....Annoyingly I can't really share what has been making me so angry but the stress has actually made me physically sick and all anxious....One day I will be able to blog about it but at the moment it isn't the right time and if I did I would probably end up in trouble....Don't worry Stu, the girls and I are all OK....Thankfully I think I have sorted part of my problem out but only time will tell!! It's all a bit cryptic and I can only apologise but I couldn't not mention it as it seems to have consumed my week and made me into a rotten person!!

I found this online and it made me think yeah! That's it!....I really need to take more notice of it I think!!

It hasn't all been bad this week though.....Just at the time in the middle of it all the bad seemed to outweigh the good....

We have had some lovely moments this week!!.....Making beards after school on Friday for Roald Dahl day.....Domino's for tea on Saturday all chosen by Becky as a late birthday treat and the girls just generally being lovely!! 

Again Ellie has been on her best behaviour at school and at home....I will never tire of letting you all know this....hehehe She is being an absolute star!!

Becky hates PE....lol Due to it being a new school year obviously her timetable has changed and she now has PE three times one week and once the next week (The timetable is over 2 weeks)......She text me when she was on her way home from school on Monday saying she would be late as her legs were aching. She had been doing squats and star jumps.....lol She had to go for a soak in the bath to feel better.....Then later on in the week she had cross country running....Yesterday she had the squat exercises again.....lol She thinks the PE teacher is trying to kill her....

At least on Monday she has a day off school.....She is getting her braces!! Eek! I am so nervous....She isn't phased by it in the slightest.....I have a feeling she might think differently when the are on though....

This afternoon Stu and I are going to go out for a meal.....I think we need a treat! Yes we could go with the kids but we have decided to do something just for us.....At the moment I feel fine about it but I know I will feel the dreaded mummy guilt when we are out stuffing our faces....hehehe

 

My teen had a wonderful birthday....

This time last week it was Becky's birthday! My girl is now a teenager.....I still find it strange saying that but it isn't too bad having a teen....So far so good.....hehehe

Becky was up extra early on the morning of her birthday....Well before 7am the usual time we get up! She of course wanted to open her presents before school.....This year her present pile was a lot smaller than previous years because she had got a new phone a little while ago and tickets to see One Direction next month....She didn't seem bothered in the slightest.....

 She opened them all and was very happy.....Then she went off to school.....Poor Becky always seems to have her birthday on a school day....I can't remember the last time she had her birthday on a weekend.....

When Ellie had gone to school I went shopping for Becky's birthday cakes....Yes! Cakes! One character cake and a nice chocolate one....I ended up buying her a few extra treats while I was out too.....

I managed to get a few things off Becky's birthday wishlist! Some of the Zoella bath range and the Minions t-shirt that she wanted....Best mam award goes to me! Becky was kind enough to let me try some of the bath fizzer bar and it is lovely! My skin felt so soft.....I will be buying myself some.....She also loves her new onesie! So much so that she is wearing it every night...It has been washed and dried during the day.....lol

I cooked a party tea that was ready just for her getting in from school.....She was impressed! I never planned to go with a Minions theme but some how it happened anyway....Plates, cups, napkins, biscuits as well as the birthday cake!

She went to bed a very happy girl after a fantastic day!

It didn't end there though! As her day was slightly ruined by being at school we decided to let her choose a takeaway for Saturday night.....Her choice was Domino's!! I let her pick what we were eating too.....We tried their Nachos....None of us were keen on them apart from Becky! She at the whole portion....Of course we ordered far too much food so Sunday's lunch was well and truly sorted....

Sterimar Stop & Protect Cold & Sinus Relief - Review!!

Winter is coming and now the kids are back at school it's only a matter of time before the they start picking up bugs, germs and colds....We were recently sent some of the Sterimar Stop & Protect Cold & Sinus Relief sprays so we are prepared for when we do get poorly.... 

 

Sterimar Stop & Protect Cold & Sinus Relief decongests immediately, neutralizes viruses & bacteria and fights infections but not only that it protects against further infections.....

Based on ingredients of natural origin including 100% natural sea water it forms a protective and invisible film which stops germs in their tracks!

Sterimar Stop & Protect Cold & Sinus Relief also contains copper to reduce the spread of germs, added manganese and the cleansing oil of eucalyptus....

To use you pump two sprays up each nostril up to six times a day.....There are about 120 sprays per bottle.... 

It is steroid and drug free which means it is suitable for pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers and children from 3 years old.....It is also non-drowsy and preservative free....

At the moment none of us have colds so I can't say if it works or not but Becky my 13 year old gave it a test and sprayed it up our noses.....It felt fine, there was no smell to it and it just felt wet....

 

You can buy Sterimar in Boots, Lloyds Pharmacy, independent pharmacies and most supermarket pharmacies.

We were sent some samples of the Sterimar Stop & Protect Cold & Sinus Relief free of charge in exchange for this post.... 

An oldie but a goodie.... #wickedwednesdays

When I was writing my girls birthday posts I was looking back over old photos right from when they were babies to now....I found some great photos that were too good not to share....So I put them all in a folder ready for the fabulous Wicked Wednesday linky and I think it's safe to say I have enough to keep me going for a good few months....hehehe

Starting with this one....

Halloween crafts with Baker Ross....

Last week I shared some of the Autumn crafts from Baker Ross.....This week we have moved onto Halloween....I know it's over a month away but it's better to be prepared and Baker Ross have some lovely things on their website....

My girls and I loved the Scratch Art Haunted Houses.....Each haunted house includes card stands and scratch tool and scratch the surface to reveal metallic effects and....

The houses were easy to scratch and the black wasn't too thick that it left a lot of mess.....The end results were very cool....

 A pack of 8 costs £2.95 which works out 37 pence each...These would be a fantastic activity for a Halloween party or an alternative to sweets to hand out to Trick or Treaters....

We then got to work with the Top Hat Craft Kits.....There is 3 parts to the hat which all need sticking together with glue....Which is easy enough....We decided to use some tape too because we are too impatient to wait for the glue to stick....hehehe 

 The hat size is size 25cm diameter which meant they were a little small for Becky and I....There is no way to adjust the size as the rim and the top to the hat won't fit properly to the middle part of the hat....These of course would be perfect for people with smaller heads....hehehe We still had fantastic fun making them and the end result was great!

We decorated the hats with the fabulous Day of the Dead Foam Stickers which come on white self-adhesive foam and there is 105 in a packet....We have plenty left over even though the girls got a little carried away with them....

The top hat kits cost £2.70 for a pack of three and the stickers cost £2.99....I thought the prices are great but saying that just about everything on the Baker Ross site is as cheap as chips....

We are part of the Baker Ross Blogger Network....We were sent these products free of charge in exchange for our honest review.....These are our own thoughts and opinions.....

Our Weekly Meal Plan!! - #mealplanningmonday

Last weeks meal plan went OK.....We didn't have the Chicken Casserole yesterday so we will be having that today.....Becky had a great birthday and enjoyed her party tea and Domino's on Saturday!

Usually every weekend I get the shopping delivered this week we never bothered.....The cupboards are overflowing and the freezer is jam packed full so I will just be buying bread and milk as we need it....At least with the extra money we have saved I can make a start on the Christmas shopping...I know for some it may be a little early but it works well this way for my family.....

This week on the menu we have:

 

Monday - Chicken Casserole & mash....

 Tuesday - Fish fingers, potato waffles and peas....

 Wednesday - A lentil bolognese from LifeonplanetG....

 Thursday - Some sort of omelette and chips!....

 Friday - Something out of the freezer....

 Saturday - Hot dogs in buns with corn on the cob!....

Sunday - Sausage casserole, mash & veg....

As always I've joined in with the wonderful Mrs M's #mealplanningmonday linky....

A Christmas list already - #MySundayPhoto

Becky had her birthday on Thursday.....She doesn't waste any time....She spent Saturday writing her first of probably many Christmas lists.....All Minecraft and Minion related things....All totally do-able. I better get buying now!!