A few thoughts about You Tube. Day 31 of #Blogtober17

I am taking part in Blogtober17 and will be writing posts with various themes/prompts throughout October...Today's prompt is: You Tube...

In case you didn't know I have a You Tube channel....Do go and follow it. Please. hehehe

I love You Tube and every night when I go to bed I will watch quite a few videos each night. I have my favourite You Tubers.

Philip DeFranco who talks about the biggest internet news stories of that day. Brummy Mummy of 2. She's real and just a lovely person and deserves every single follower!! Louise Pentland who I've followed for years and Logan Paul who hate but I can't stop watching....He is such a daft kid. Becky my teen introduced me to him. Can you remember that TV show on MTV, Jackass. His whole life reminds me of that. Doing silly things for the views....

I am not going to pretend my You Tube Channel is anything like these amazing one's but if you ask a couple of kids at Becky my teen's school, they are big fans...lol I really don't know why I just record special memories, days out and fun things we get up to....It's nothing amazing to strangers but it is to us! Like one of Becky's friends said I'm just a "mummy vlogger, what's so interesting about that?"! He meant it in the nicest way...I know my You Tube channel is nothing to anyone else but it is to me...

I might only have just over 300 followers but my top viewed video has had over 40,000 views! It isn't anything amazing to anyone else but to us it is one of those memories for us. Ellie opening her birthday pressies in 2016.



Earlier this year I shared my favourite You Tube videos. (the one's I've made).

The only thing that annoys me about You Tube is people starting channels and thinking they can be the next PewdiePie or Zoella....Doing prank calls to McDonalds, their top 10 favourite lip glosses, reaction videos to something shocking or trolling videos which are so 2014. Making videos and copying/imitating big You Tubers is never going to make you famous...To make it on You Tube now you have to be something special. Something unique!....You have to be different or in the words of Logan Paul "a Maverick"! hahaha

Ellie has suggested to me that we take part in #Vlogmas. Putting a video up on You Tube every day during December. That is never going to happen....I put one video up and then the next one could be three weeks later....There is no consistency to my YouTube channel. We do have a few ideas for some Christmas videos. Baking, crafts and some fun things so do keep an eye out....

How I use Pinterest. Day 30 of #Blogtober17

I am taking part in Blogtober17 and will be writing posts with various themes/prompts throughout October...Today's prompt is: Pinterest

As a blogger I am supposed to know how to use it to my advantage to get blog views. I don't have a clue....I do keep meaning to look into it though. I will get around to it one day....lol I use Pinterest for myself. I pin things I like so I can look back on and gain inspiration.

I love finding new recipes to try. There are some weird and wonderful one's to be found....Ellie was looking at Pinterest the other day and searched for Unicorn Recipes! Oh my goodness! Everything is so pretty!

Fish Finger Pie was an Pinterest find and so was the idea for making Ice cream in a bag. I often look at my recipe board for meal planning inspiration. When I see a recipe I like I pin it.

As you know I read a lot of blogs and plenty of them review toys....It is very handy to have somewhere to save the toys that have caught my eye and look back at them in the run up to Christmas.

I can see me getting a lot of use from my Halloween and Christmas boards....I save everything from recipes, crafts, tips and ideas on these....

Pinterest was where I first discovered the idea of Elf on the Shelf....I think this will be the 3rd year we have been doing it so I will be scouring Pinterest for ideas. I really need some new things to do with our elf....

How do you use Pinterest? What do you like to pin?

The Not an Insta Mum Challenge... Day 29 of #Blogtober17

I am taking part in Blogtober17 and will be writing posts with various themes/prompts throughout October...Today's prompt is: Instagram

I saw the #NotanInstaMum challenge over on Afra's blog Mad Mum of 7 and it made me chuckle and made me think of the photos which never made it onto my Instagram or if they did I never told the full story behind them....

Disclaimer: I don't go out often. I think I have been out two or three times this year at the most....These photos are spanning over about 4 years....Don't judge me too much. 

Photo One -

A lovely photo. I was at a friends birthday party enjoying a glass of wine....This is a nice photo. I think I even had it on one of the banners on my blog a few years ago.

What it doesn't show is my friend who is making a big cocktail in a bowl with bottles of alcohol which didn't have much left in. The dregs. lol She made it classy though. She added a tin of fruit cocktail. lol I may have ended up slightly drunk. 

Photo 2 -

A night out....Obviously in a pub. I'm smiling and I'm having a good time.

I did have a good night.....One of the best. I was sweating like pig. Why did I think it was a good idea to wear my hair down and not have a hair bobble....I kept nearly falling out of my top....I ended up on the stage with the band dancing with my friends, I lost my phone and I don't remember getting home.....I do remember being sick in the bath though when I did get home....Oopsie!

Photo 3 -

A lovely summers evening seeing a band.

Yes that is a cigarette in my hand. I smoke sometimes when I am out and I am having a drink....

This was one of the best/strangest night's I've ever had. 

It was a Bank holiday Monday and my friends and I went to see a band in one of our local pubs. They only did a short set and said they were off to a pub in South Shields. My friends husband wasn't drinking so he drove us all to follow the band...

The band we saw was a Rockabilly group but play everything from The Monster Mash, U2, Spice Girls, Chitty, Chitty Bang, Bang, The Bay City Rollers, Moterhead and Gangnam Style in a Rockabilly style....They're a lot of fun!!

My friend and I were moshing and dancing to the most random of songs among those who were real rockabilly fan's and had all the fancy dresses, we drank Jagermeister from a bottle that the band had. My friend is the type of person that can drink triple what I can and not get drunk....She was tipsy so you don't want to imagine how I was. I just have to think about Jagermeister and I feel sick even now! lol

Please do go and follow me on Instagram.

My Twitter History.... Day 28 of #Blogtober17

I am taking part in Blogtober17 and will be writing posts with various themes/prompts throughout October...Today's prompt is: Twitter

Twitter is by far my favourite social media platform.....It wasn't always that way though.

I was a Facebook lover until I realised it was so easy to enter competitions on Twitter and win.....A simple click and a retweet could bring me wonderful things. Things have changed now though and there is so many more entries to RT competitions. I rarely do them now.....

I think one of my first competition wins was on Twitter. I won an Andy Pad in 2011....It was a 7 inch tablet and it was put away for Becky for Christmas. That was the start of Becky's love of tablets and my love of Twitter....

When I started my blog at the end of 2012 I still didn't know I was supposed to promote my blog posts on Twitter.....I used it to follow bloggers but still mainly entered competitions with it.....I remember on a Wednesday and a Friday when there was the most competitions I would always get banned for a couple of hours for retweeting too much.....lol

In 2014 I made up a new Twitter account after having some issues with some app which linked to my twitter account and started sending out spammy tweets.....By the time I had figured this out with the help of Zoe from Mama Geek I'd already made a new account up and was begging people to follow me there....lol 

It did me a favour....I had been meaning to change my name for ages but couldn't stop entering Rafflecopter giveaways with my Kimmer2111 account. lol 

Over the years I have seen Twitter change so much....When I started blogging and following more and more bloggers I could see people chatting. Now I struggle to see a chatty tweet. It is all retweets and self promotion. I know I am guilty of retweeting other peoples blog posts but I do make sure that for every couple of RT's I do I have a chatty tweet. I usually chat a lot of rubbish but the chat is there.....

My most famous follower is Sandi Thom...She followed me first. She's a singer and a pretty good one....

I have have no idea why she followed me. I haven't been brave enough to ask but of course I followed her back.

From what I remember my top tweet has been about a random CH4 TV show. The People Next Door. 90 retweets and 200 likes! I have had some others which have came close about Corrie and Hollyoaks....

Do you like Twitter?

Those annoying Facebook friends. Day 27 of #Blogtober17

I am taking part in Blogtober17 and will be writing posts with various themes/prompts throughout October...Today's prompt is: Facebook

I used to be a Facebook addict....I would update my status about 10 times a day, play all the games and chat to people on there....Now. I don't. I use it to share some photos with my dad now and again and now I mostly use it for blogging things....

I skim through it now and again and read some of the statuses from people and sometimes I am left rolling my eyes. These are the people on Facebook who annoy me!

The Attention seekers - Those who say "I'm so angry" or "I'm so upset" then when you ask about it they say they don't want to talk about it....Ugh!

The novelty account for a pet/foetus/pre-vocal child - No. Just don't! As a dog you lack the language skills necessary to impart anything worthwhile to my life. It's just weird! 

The let me tell you every detail of my day person - "I'm waking up." "I had toast for breakfast." "I'm bored at work." "I'm stuck in traffic."....No moment is too mundane for some people to broadcast. Just because you have 1274 Facebook friends doesn't mean we all want to know when you're going to the toilet! Ugh.

The Spoilers - Those who love to ruin my favourite TV shows before they've even been shown on TV!

The stupido who always falls for the latest scam - Every time without fail. Giant spiders, satanic soft drink logos, scam giveaways. But don’t bother correcting them - they’ll only get defensive. “I was only trying to raise awareness!”. Ugh! 

I have a Facbook friend who's daughter received a heart transplant but then sadly passed away....Her photo was used in a scam. One of those "if this photo gets 5000 likes the kid gets a new heart and can live"....It was sickening! I can't even begin to imagine how the family felt. A like on FB can not save a child...

The stalker - These friends never post on your wall, never really even communicate with you on Facebook but when you see them in real life they know absolutely everything you’ve statused for the past year. 

The “I'm taking a break from Facebook” person - Everybody needs a break from Facebook from time to time. Most of us just disappear without notice but not these friends announce it! It's usually someone who's had a minor argument with someone on Facebook....Just go! I probably won't even notice. lol

The sellers - Those who are trying to get me to sign up for Juice plus things and things like that. They try to get all of their friends to jump on board with the latest and greatest money making program out there. Ugh!

The Checker in - The one who checks in to every single place they visit....I think I've checked into a couple of places but that was only because my friend tagged me in it....I have seen someone check into a hospital and then not tell anyone why....Ugh!

The one's who ask stupid questions - Like how long do I boil an egg, how do I get paint out of the carpet? That's what Google is there for. If you can get on Facebook you can use Google. Ugh!

The guilt trip person - 90% of people don’t have the guts to change their FB status, blah, blah, blah....One Like = One Prayer.” What they’re really saying is “Pay me some attention or you’re wishing bad things upon all your loved ones. Ugh!

Do you have these type of annoying friends on Facebook?

10 fun facts about zoos. Day 26 of #Blogtober17

I am taking part in Blogtober17 and will be writing posts with various themes/prompts throughout October...Today's prompt is: Zoo

The last time I visited a zoo was when I was a child....I was probably about 10 years old. It was at Flamingo Land in North Yorkshire. As it was a theme park and zoo I had no interest in my parents dragging me around to see the animals. I wanted the rides.....Now I would gladly give up riding roller-coasters to see the animals. 

I always remember a story my dad used to tell about how him and his cousin were young and they were taken to a zoo....I have no idea which one but there were monkeys there and my dad and his cousin gave them chewing gum and they made such a mess....They got into so much trouble and escorted from the zoo by security guards....lol

A bear cub named Winnipeg was exported from Canada to the London Zoo in 1915. A little boy named Christopher Robin Milne loved to visit Winnipeg (or Winnie for short) and his love for the bear cub inspired the stories written by his father, A.A. Milne, about Winnie the Pooh.

There was a temporary ban on guests wearing animal print clothing at Chessington World of Adventures in 2013 as it was confusing the animals. Animal print-wearing visitors were given grey boiler suits to wear everywhere in the park so as not to antagonise or excite the animals. lol

An orangutan named Fu Manchu repeatedly escaped from his cage at the zoo using a key he had fashioned from a piece of wire. Every time his zookeepers inspected him, he hid the key in his mouth.

During the outbreak of World War II, London Zoo killed all their venomous animals in case the zoo was bombed and the animals escaped.

During the 18th century, the price of admission into a zoo in England was three half-pence, or the supply of a cat or dog to be fed to the lions.

Some zoos offer a special public service such as providing medical staff with antivenin, an antidote for snake bites that may take place outside the zoo. Such a service has saved lives. 

Before Sylvester Stallone hit it big in the movies, he had a job cleaning the lions' cages at the Central Park Zoo in New York City.

There have been reports of people breaking into animal cages or tanks, and even one event where a Bengal tiger and two camels were stolen while in transport to a Canadian zoo.

Maruyama Zoo in Japan unsuccessfully tried to mate a pair of hyenas between 2010 and 2014, before realizing they were both males.

The Henan Province Zoo in China actually dressed up dogs as lions, leopards, and wolves. When confronted about the timber wolf that was actually a dog the zoo officials tried to play it off by claiming that the dog was the wolf’s pet...lol

2017 was the year that I.... Day 25 of #Blogtober17

I am taking part in Blogtober17 and will be writing posts with various themes/prompts throughout October...Today's prompt is: Year in Review!

This was such a hard prompt to write for...I have loads to say about 2017 but it is my blogs 5th birthday next month so I am saving writing about blog life until then and I always save writing about my girls until the end of the year so it seems this blog post will all be about me...I hate writing about me.

2017 was the year that I: stopped caring about what people thought about me....If myself and my family are happy what business is it of anyone else...

2017 was the year that I: started watching Game of Thrones.....I had tried in the past but I just couldn't get into it....This year I watched some top 10 countdown of it and needed to see more. About a month before the new series started I tried to catch up. It is an amazing show!

2017 was the year that I: lost my mother. She died...I felt bad for not caring but lots of people gave me a lot of support and were there for me......I hadn't spoken or seen my mother in about  8 years...I have blogged about it in the past.

2017 was the year that I: thought I was going to lose my dad....He has had some health problems but thankfully is over the worst now. He had me really worried for while.

2017 was the year that I: started eating breakfast. I never used to but now every morning I have at least a slice of toast or a breakfast bar....I feel better for it.

2017 was the year that I: realised I am not a bad parent....My girl may have some sort of Autism. I am doing everything I can but sometimes if felt like it wasn't enough...

2017 was the year that I: came to the conclusion that I would much rather stay in my pj's, watch TV and drink wine instead of going out. It is just too much effort....

2017 was the year that I: started to do little things to treat myself like buying fresh flowers every week.

2017 was the year that I: lost weight...I went from a size 20 to a size 16/18 in clothes....I didn't diet as such I just stopped the snacking and drinking fizzy pop.

2017 was the year that I: learned how to poach an egg thanks to the TV show This Morning....

2017 was the year that I: spent some money on myself and got new clothes, trainers and a coat....I usually get the kids everything they need and I do without.....They didn't do without though. Instead of getting 10 new outfits in the summer they got 7 and I bought myself some clothes.

This year has had it's ups and downs but it looks like things are now looking up....

Planning for Christmas. Day 24 of #Blogtober17

I am taking part in Blogtober17 and will be writing posts with various themes/prompts throughout October...Today's prompt is: Xmas

It's nearly the end of October and I am already thinking about Christmas....I love Christmas and I think the planning is more exciting than the actual day for me....Don't get me wrong I do love seeing the girls open their presents but I like the build up to the big day too!

I already have quite a few of the girls Christmas presents bought....Phew! We know what we're getting the girls for their main presents but I'm not going to say what they are on here in case they read but they are going to be so happy! I haven't started shopping for Stu yet....I have an idea of what to get him though....

I wasn't sure about doing Elf on the Shelf again this year but Ellie has started asking about it....For the past few years Elizabeth our elf has came and visited throughout December. She sometimes got up to a little mischief but on the whole she has been a good elf....I think I am going to have to spend some time on Pinterest thinking up some new ideas for her.

We will be putting the Christmas tree up on the first weekend in December! I can't wait to decorate the house and over the next couple of weeks I hope to buy some new decorations....

I am planning on starting shopping for some of the Christmas food like tubs of chocolate, alcohol and things that will keep for months in the middle of November. When I see something on offer I will get it....I did buy a couple of bottles of Baileys when it was on offer a couple of weeks ago and I made Stu hide one away so it will last until Christmas. hehehe

I already have money some of the bill paid with the Tesco clubcard vouchers which I save up for Christmas....It really helps go towards paying for the food shop. I love doing the Christmas food shop....I spend weeks planing what we need and want. I don't like trying to book a delivery slot though. I am one of those people who stays up and at midnight when the delivery slots are released. hehehe Last year I got one for the 23rd and it was perfect and Tesco delivered nearly everything so on Christmas Eve I only had a couple of things to pop out for....

We will of course be doing some baking....This year I want to make some mince pies. It seems years since we made any.

A couple of years ago I started the tradition of making a Gingerbread house and the girls love it.....I just get the kit from Tesco and I am sure we will get another this year.

I am hoping my dad comes for a visit like he usually does before Christmas...He has had some health issues so I haven't seen him since last December. We have of course talked on the phone....I will have to have a think about what to get him for Christmas too....Eek! Dad's are so hard to buy for. My dad's girlfriend is easy to buy for I have tons of ideas for her. hehehe

Ellie has seen You Tubers join in with Vlogmas posting a video each day and wants us to join in....I have said no chance. We are not You tubers but we are going to be making a few videos over December.

If we have the money I am hoping to take the girls to see a panto this year....They have never been to one and I want them to see one before they get too old to totally enjoy it.

It is Ellie's last year in Primary school this year so I will be enjoying every school play, carol service and Christmas event because as soon as she goes to the secondary school it all seems to stop.

Have you got any big plans for Christmas?

Our last proper snow day. Day 23 of #Blogtober17

I am taking part in Blogtober17 and will be writing posts with various themes/prompts throughout October...Today's prompt is: Weather

It's been years since we had any proper snow here....We've had an inch or so but nothing that has stayed around for more than a couple of hours....The last time it snowed properly and stuck around was during 2010.....

In the January the girls had their first fun in the snow....They loved it and spent hours out in it....In fact they cried when they had to come back inside....

I was searching for these photos and came across some video clips of the girls playing in the snow which I had totally forgotten about....I had to share! I always forget how small they were....hehehe 

Later in 2010 it snowed again! This time the school was closed! Hooray! It was very exciting for Becky. A day off school to play in the snow was the best day ever!!

The girls had also perfected the art of building a snowman!

I like the snow when it is like this....White and fluffy. I am not so keen when it starts to melts and turns into ice....

Do you like the snow? When did you last build a snowman?

Fantastic Villain Costumes. Day 22 of #Blogtober17

I am taking part in Blogtober17 and will be writing posts with various themes/prompts throughout October...Today's prompt is: Villains and Superheroes

With Halloween coming up I was thinking of fancy dress costumes. I don't like dressing up for Halloween but I do like looking at costumes....

Obviously there are a lot of Superhero costumes but I didn't think there would be many villain ones until I started looking! These are my favourites....

Disney Villains Maleficent Fancy Dress Costume - £22.00 - Asda

Deadpool Girl - Adult costume - £32.99 - Party Delights

Wicked Witch Costume - £22.99 - Escapade

Adult Disney Cruella de Vil Fancy Dress Costume - £25.00 - Asda

Classic Catowoman Costume - £37.99 - Halloween Costumes

Queen of hearts costume - £22.99 - Jokers Masquerade

Poison Ivy costume - £32.99 - Escapade

DC Harley Quinn Halloween Costume - £25.00 - Asda

If you were to be a villain who would you dress up as?

My unusual crush - Day 21 of #Blogtober17

I am taking part in Blogtober17 and will be writing posts with various themes/prompts throughout October...Today's prompt is: Unusual crushes....

This prompt seems pretty perfect for this weekend.....My big crush returns to TV soon. Sunday night in America and Monday night here in the UK. If you are not a fan of The Walking Dead you probably want to give this post a miss or if you are behind with the series there may be spoilers! Beware! 

My biggest crush at the moment is Negan from The Walking Dead.....



Yes he killed one of my favourite characters in show....Abraham! He may have been my unusual crush if he was still alive...RIP to Glenn too....He had ran his course though....

Negan is one of those characters that is so bad that he is entertaining to watch....He's an utter nutcase! He makes The Governor look like a pussycat! He's cruel, manipulative, brutal but he is also charismatic, has a sick sense of humour and a very cool leather jacket!....

His one liners are hilarious! The one that sticks in my head is what he said the the priest Father Gabriel. Holy crap! You are creepy as s**t, sneaking up on me wearing that collar with that freaky ass smile! He was creepy and did appear from nowhere. lol

I really hope over the new series we get to see some of his backstory....I have read about what happens to him in the comics. He had a wife who died of cancer in hospital at the start of Walkers appearing....I am betting that was the same hospital where Rick was in the first episode! Hmmm!

I was late getting into watching The Walking Dead.....My fella loved it from Day one but it took me until the episode where Lori gave birth to Judith in the 3rd series to become interested....I can't imagine not watching it now!