30 Wishes

Just a few days ago I joined club 30. I waved goodbye to my twenties and celebrated my birthday with family and friends over a delicious Indian meal with just one or two (bottles of) alcoholic beverages. I'd been dreading it to be honest, it felt as though my youth was coming to a bitter end and I was about to burst with grey hair and wrinkles (getting older is daunting for everyone, right?) but I decided to do something positive to mark my special day with Balloon Time instead.

Balloon Time kits are a convenient way to fill balloons at home in preparation for any celebration. They can easily transform a room and make it far more festive whether it's for a wedding day, christening or baby shower - whatever you like, and if you are a little adventurous you could create some bouquets or centre pieces for the table. You can even give them away to guests as favours at the end of the event which the children in particular will appreciate too. 

You Have The #PowerToSwitch

Fancy getting your mitts on an extra £200 or maybe more? For 2015 I've set myself a few challenges; I'm trying to lose some weight (bikini body here I come) and I'm trying to gain some extra pennies as cash always comes in handy, especially when it comes to holidays. We love to travel and we already have 5 breaks booked this year with the Mr having a lads week at the TT on the Isle of Man too in June, which I treated him to. 

By making a few tiny changes it's surprising what money you can free up to put to better use than bills!

The #PowerToSwitch campaign run by the Department of Energy and Climate Change encourages people to switch energy suppliers and save money and I've had a little look at doing so myself.

I'm Going To Britmums Live...

Name: Emma

Blog: The Mini Mes and Me

Twitter ID: @TheMiniMesAndMe

Height: 6ft

Hair: Long and brown, naturally curly but often straightened

Eyes: Brown

Is this your first blogging conference?

Yes!! I'm very excited but also rather nervous. I had hoped to go

Good Times in the Garden

"We have a little garden,

A garden of our own,

And every day we water there,

The seeds that we have sown.

We love our little garden,

And tend it with such care,

Plant seeds in an egg box and once they start to grow you can plant the entire egg box outside as it will disintegrate!

You will not find a faded leaf,

Or blighted blossom there."

This post is an entry for BritMums' #KidsGrowWild Challenge

Poem by Beatrix Potter

Festive Tunes

Nothing burns off all those mince pies and helps you find your Christmas spirit like a dance to some festive tunes. Also, if you are the designated driver over the festive period some good music in the car can make the driving seem less of a chore!

These are my top 5....

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow

I would love to wake up Christmas morning with a good few inches of snow on the ground. There is something about it that is so beautiful and magical. I'd really like to open the presents then dash outside with the Mini Mes and Me to play before a huge roast dinner with the rest of the family, even if I am like Bambi on ice!

All I Want For Christmas is You

This song reminds me that despite all the presents, food and drink it's family and friends that are important this time of year. Christmas is the ideal time to show your loved ones what they mean to you.

Winter Wonderland

That lovely moment when you have kicked off your wellies, pulled off your hat and popped the kettle on after building snowmen; that is what this song reminds me of. Warm fires, hot chocolate and watching the snow fall outside while your snug indoors watching people being hit my snowballs out the window!

... Plus Michael Buble is slightly drool inducing which is a bonus.

Jingle Bell Rock 

This song reminds me of all the fun over Christmas. Nights out, good food and parties. 

Just basically enjoying yourself and having a good time.

 

Santa Claus is coming to town

My favourite Christmas song! It is just so upbeat and it always makes me want to bop away and sing along.

The Mini Mes get so excited about the arrival of Santa and this song makes me think about Christmas Eve, putting out the cookies and milk and a carrot for the reindeer.

Coca-Cola has a special Designated Driver programme which promotes the positive role that soft drinks have as an alternative to alcohol. 

Be safe on the roads this Christmas and do not drink alcohol and drive!

You can use their interactive Pub Finder to locate places where designated drivers can enjoy Coke and Diet Coke 2-for-1 when out with friends.

http://www.coca-cola.co.uk/designated-driver/

This is my entry into the Festive Song Linky sponsored by Coca-Cola

It only takes ONEMum

I've just signed up to ONE and the fight against extreme poverty. I'd like you to join me.

By supporting ONE, you have the opportunity to take action to support effective, proven initiatives that are delivering results in the poorest places on the planet: protecting families from preventable diseases like AIDS and malaria, putting children in school, providing economic opportunity and stabilising communities. 

Join me and millions of people around the world who believe that where you live shouldn't determine whether you live:

http://www.one.org/join

Together as ONE we can make a difference!

How you can be a #ONEMum Community Partner 

• Have a good search of the ONE website and learn about their rich history. Scroll to the bottom of the screen and here is loads of links to good and easy to digest information. 
• Blog about ONE to raise awareness and promote their latest campaign, see HERE. 
• Add your link to the BritMums #ONEMums Linky below to help raise awareness about ONE and encourage people to sign up. 
• Blog about the journey Mich and Jen are taking and share some of their posts that way. See HERE for all the posts tagged Ethiopia on Mich’s blog and HERE and HERE for the ones on the BritMums blog. 
• Write a blog to contribute to the ONE blog, this could give you exposure to a whole new audience! 
• Tweet or RT any posts to do with the journey and ONE. Use the hashtags #ONEMums and #ONEMoms (we’re using both tags to reach the Community Partners in the US too). 
• Facebook/ Google + share any posts or use your status to raise awareness, encourage people to sign up. 
• Pin any posts that have the #ONEMums and #ONEMoms hashtags. 
• Talk to your family and friends about what you are doing. 
• Use the email template HERE to send a message to your contacts. 
• Place a widget in your sidebar so people can directly sign up to ONE, or display a banner/ badge (various sizes/ available)

Cravendale's Epic Straws

What else could make drinking more fun than some funky Cravendale Epic Straws to sip your milk up through? We were sent two packs of straws to create something wonderful and some vouchers for Cravendale too from BritMums.


Competitors are you ready...

Jamster "loving the loops" first attempt...

 He gave them a thumbs up!

Minxy's invention named 'Eye Surprise' made the drink go around her head in a pair of straw glasses. Truly Epic!

Jamster loved Minxy's so much he had a go on it too!...

You can find more information on Epic Straws at www.epicstraws.co.uk as of 

24th September 2012.

You can share your own pictures with the #EpicStraws hashtag.

Kodak Avengers Linky Challenge

We are a family that loves action movies but Jamster in particular is a HUGE Marvel fan.

When BritMums teamed up with Kodak to create the #KodakAvengers Linky Challenge, we decided to join in and celebrate the release of Avengers Assemble on DVD and Blu-Ray with them!

Kodak have lots of fantastic FREE Avengers Assemble Printable Kits so that you to go on your very own Super Hero adventures and missions at home. There is a selection of masks, posters, party invites, door cards, table cards, name tags and fold figures for you to print for the perfect themed party.

We printed off the masks and took Captain America on a trip to the Denstist...

He showed true bravery!

This is our entry for the #KodakAvengers Linky Challenge. You can join in to by printing off your own masks and sharing the pictures too. If you are lucky enough to have a Kodak printer you will be saving yourself money when you print as they offer the lowest ink replacement costs within the UK!

Rice Krispies Colour Me In

Rice Krispies have released some cereal packets where the box can be coloured in by your little ones to make breakfast even more fun!

We were lucky enough to be sent a huge box of the yummy cereal and an arts pack filled with pens, pencils, stampers and glitter to decorate it from BritMums. With the #ColourMeInRK competition you have the chance to win a years supply of Rice Krispies, the coloured in image by your child printed onto a t-shirt or £500!

The goodies we received

Jamster getting creative

 We printed out another copy for Minxy to colour in too

Jamsters fully coloured in box (he loved the glitter a little too much!)

This is our entry for the BritMums #ColourMeInRK competition, sponsored by Kellogg’s.

Turkey and Bacon Lasagne

This is a traditional Italian meal with a twist. It's still packed with flavour but as turkey is a more lean and less expensive meat generally, I like to use it as an alternative to both beef and chicken from time to time.

Ingredients
500g Turkey
4 rashers of unsmoked bacon
1/2 tsp garlic puree or 1 crushed clove
1 onion
1 red pepper
1 tbsp tomato puree
1 400g tin of chopped tomatoes
1 tsp basil
1 tsp thyme
Fresh lasagne sheets (or make your own)
Cheese

Bechamel Sauce
50g butter
50g plain flour
1 pint of milk

Method

• Dice the onion and brown on a low heat.
• Dice the turkey and bacon and add to the pan.
• Add the tomato puree and garlic puree and coat the meat as it cooks.
• Once cooked thoroughly add the pepper, tinned tomatoes and herbs.
• Add half the mixture into an oven proof dish, layer lasagne on top and pour on half of the belchamel sauce. Repeat and then top with cheese and place in the oven for around 30 minutes on 180 degrees.
• (Make the bechamel sauce by combining the butter and flour to make a paste and slowly adding the milk in. Stir continously for a few minutes to create a sauce)

We enjoy this with some thick crunchy bread or garlic ciabatta and salad.

I am entering this into the Britmums Lean on Turkey competiiton sponsored by www.leanonturkey.co.uk