Boredom Busters - How to Keep Yourself Entertained in the Evenings

When you become a parent your evenings soon turn into an endless array of nappy changes, feeds, stories and even tantrums but as they grow a little older and you do get time to yourself before bed you can certainly make the most of it. 

You might not be able to dash off out spontaneously anymore, well not without a babysitter well prepared, but that doesn't mean you have to sit in front of soap operas or twiddling your thumbs all night either!

Here are my my suggestions to keep you entertained in the evenings:

Reasons to be happy

 

My reasons to be happy

We had an amazing time in Blackpool at the weekend to celebrate my birthday. We spent Saturday on all of the rides at the Pleasure Beach followed by a meal out at a lovely Indian restaurant called Imli. Sunday we explored the local shops and the sea front picking up a few goodies to take home for family and friends. Mmm fudge!

 

I've lost 11lbs in a fortnight by calorie counting and I'm very proud of myself. It won't be long until I'm purchasing my dress for my brothers wedding in September and I'm looking forward to hopefully getting into something a little smaller and looking (and feeling) stunning.

 

 

 

My birthday was yesterday and I had a great day of retail therapy with my sister. I received some fantastic gifts including a variety of new Pandora charms for my bracelet, blu-rays and clothes. Thank you to everyone who sent cards, gifts and birthday wishes - appreciated!

 

 

  

What reasons to you have to be cheerful this week?

Reasons to be happy

 

My reasons to be happy

My little man is 7 today - Happy birthday Jamster! We are going to the cinema to see The Croods and out for lunch to celebrate. He has received so many lovely gifts from family and friends, all of which I am very thankful for! I don't know where the past few years have gone, he is a proper little man now.

It's half term which means no early morning wake ups and lots of fun with the Mini Mes. We have some Easter crafts and baking to do and we are heading to the seaside in a few days time too. I do love lazy days and a relaxed routine.

A good friend of mine treated me to lunch the other day to say thank you for all of the bits and bobs that I give her for her little ones. She is a lovely lady and it was really nice being picked up from work, taken to the pub and dropped back home after a delicious meal. Thank you!
 

What reasons to you have to be cheerful this week?

Reasons to be happy

My reasons to be happy

The Easter break fast approaches and I can't wait to spend a fortnight with the Mini Mes. Both of their birthdays are during this break so I'm looking forward to celebrating with them being at home rather than school! We have lots planned including a trip to Torquay with friends, a few cinema visits and days out at the zoo.

The school Easter fete is being held today and Minxy has offered to work on her stall, selling ice cream! She is always keen to help others and is very kind in that way which makes me a rather proud mummy. Hopefully we can win some eggs on the raffle while we are there!

We are going to Drayton Manor at the weekend and I'm really looking forward to a day out as a family. I'm hoping the weather improves a little though as it seems bitterly cold out there again but hopefully it will be a nice way to enjoy the Mr's birthday (yep, 3 family birthdays in the space of 14 days eek).

 

What reasons to you have to be cheerful this week?

Reasons to be happy

My reasons to be happy

Half term is here and so far we have had a really lovely week, although it is going by to quickly! Monday we saw Wreck it Ralph and went sledging, we have seen the Gruffalo's Child at the theatre, caught up with friends and done some crafts and baking. Good family fun.

Tomorrow we are going to Stevenage to catch up with some friends we haven't seen in about 18 months. I'm looking forward to a natter, delicious food and snuggles with their tiny baby. Hopefully I won't return home broody!

I am happy to have my Mr in my life and although it is Valentine's Day and he is not the romantic or soft sort, he still got me a card. I love him so much and despite not spoiling me with flowers and chocolates I know he loves me anyway which I am grateful for (he must be mad).

What reasons to you have to be cheerful this week?

Meal Planning Monday

We stuck to the planner really well last week and the Chinese style braised beef and fish pie in particular were a huge success with the whole family - they will be making another appearance very soon!
The only day we didn't stick with was Wednesday, we were child free and opted for a naughty takeaway pizza instead, so the salmon souffle has moved on to this week instead.

This weeks planner...

Salmon souffle

Slow cooked sausage casserole
Lasagne and garlic bread
Jacket potatoes with a variety of toppings

Friday we are visiting friends in Stevenage and we will be having an Indian together and Saturday we are visiting my brother and his fiancee for a Chinese banquet before they move away to Liverpool to live.
I quite like the idea of a non-cooking weekend but I imagine the calorie intake will be severe - eek!

What's on your menu this week?

I'm linking this over with At Home With Mrs M.

Reasons to be Happy

My reasons to be happy

Christmas. The whole build up is getting so exciting.
The Mini Mes can't wait and I am really looking forward to time off work with family and friends.
I still have quite a few gifts left to buy but I know I need so I'm still organised.

This year we have a little Elf coming to stay from 1st December to check on the Mini Mes behaviour for Santa. I'm looking forward to his cheeky activity to begin and the magic and surprise that it will bring for the Mini Mes.

I have arranged a big Christmas Gift Giveaway on my blog for all of the lovely people that have taken the time to pop over and comment during the past few months that I have been blogging. There will be a proper announcement tomorrow but from Saturday I will have daily giveaways with some fantastic products up for grabs right up until 16th!


What reasons to you have to be cheerful this week?

My reasons to be happy

My reasons to be happy

Maybe mentioning the beautiful sunshine last week tempted fate as it has rained all this week so far!

Still, I have lots of reasons to be cheerful....


Sunday we had a fantastic day at the Safari Park (you can read about that here and see the photos). Despite the rain we got up close with lots of animals and the Mini Mes loved picking out a little soft toy each to take home at the end of the day -there was no escaping the gift shop!

Monday I received some wonderful news! My brother called from Paris and informed me that he had just proposed to his girlfriend while on a river tour and she said yes. They have been together 5 years and they are a lovely couple who met at university in Coventry. Her ring is beautiful too, I asked her to send me a picture for a peek. I'm only a tiny bit green with envy, promise.
Maybe I'm next?!! *wishes*.

Both of the kids are now fully settled in back at school. Minxy had a few issues at first and she would cry daily and not eat any lunch but she is finally enjoying it and getting on well. Phew!

We have a child free weekend ahead while the kids visit their dad so I intend to have two mornings waking up naturally. It's the little things like this that make such a difference. I'm suffering a little with a cold and bad chest so some rest will be great!


What reasons to you have to be cheerful this week?

My reasons to be happy

My reasons to be happy

I'm still in shock about how beautiful the weather is at the moment. I think I've seen more of the sun this month than we did during July and August combined! I'm loving it. It's that extra boost in the morning to get out of bed (I'm definitely not a morning person) and motivates me o walk the dog with the Mr in the evenings more.
Sunshine really does make me happy.

Since the Mini Mes returned to school in September I've been able to make a few new friendships myself. This is something I generally find quite difficult at times but as the children have swapped classes I've been standing and chatting with different parents in the morning and afternoons which is lovely.

We are off to the zoo on Sunday. I won a family pass recently to Woburn Safari Park so the fact that our trip is free is even better! I hope this Autumn sunshine remains until at least Monday!

What reasons to you have to be cheerful this week?

LEGO Friends

LEGO has always been well loved in our family. I used to love playing with it as a child with my siblings and as the Mini Mes have grown, LEGO has grown with them. They have moved from  larger DUPLO block sets as toddlers onto the more complex ones where they now build intricate vehicles and buildings by themselves.

I was so pleased when LEGO launched the Friends range at the end of 2011! The first range to be aimed specifically at girls, I bought several sets for Minxy's 8th birthday and we were lucky enough to have just received Olivia's Speedboat to review.

LEGO friends is based around the lives of 5 girls named Emma, Mia, Andrea, Stephanie and Olivia in their hometown of Heartlake City. Each character has their own unique personality and interests with matching play-sets to suit your child's own taste in hobbies.

The instruction manual included is a colour booklet with a step by step assembly guide making it simple to follow despite the number of pieces (65). It only took a matter of minutes for Minxy to put together Olivia, the sandcastle, speedboat and towel. Also included are an umbrella, shovel, cup and bucket for extra beach time fun.

The detailing of Olivia is fantastic for such a small figure and the new pastel shaded pieces in pinks and purples add a lovely feminine touch. The Friends range is still compatible with all other LEGO blocks so we could combine play with older sets too - Jamster soon had his Star Wars characters soaking up the sun with Olivia!

LEGO is a great construction and role play toy helping children develop their imaginations. Minxy thoroughly enjoyed, and still enjoys, playing with her Friends sets and making up little adventures for the characters. We will be adding more to our own collection very soon and we are looking forward to seeing the other new outdoor and adventure themes including horse riding, camping and flying!

If you would like to purchase Olivia's Speedboat set it is available to purchase from the LEGO shop for £9.99. You can head over to the LEGO website to find out more on the Friends collection and to play games too!

Tipped to be one of the best toys for Christmas, will you be buying LEGO for your children?

My Week That Was...

The summer holidays seem to be flying by! Half way already eek - that means back to school and work in three weeks *boo, hiss* although we still have lots planned that I'm looking forward to.







Monday we had family over in the evening so we spent the day baking flapjacks (the Mini Mes keep requesting these), making our own mint choc and marshmallow ice cream and watching movies.

Tuesday was a quiet one at home with a bit of housework thrown in too. The Mini Mes seemed to wake on the wrong sides of their beds so staying in was a good decision with the rain too.

Wednesday we spent a lovely day at the zoo - you can read more about that here and see the lovely pictures. The sun shone, we met up with some friends that I've not seen since March 2010 and we enjoyed watching the various animals.

Thursday we had a bike ride to the shops and a bit of a chill day. The Mini Mes were both exhausted from the previous day.

Friday we headed to town first thing. We returned some library books and the Mini Mes collected their stickers, certificates and medals for completing the summer reading challenge. We popped to the pet shop and collected some holiday feeder for the fish and some treats for Spartan. We had a subways for lunch (yum) and in the evening we tested a product we received to review (the review and giveaway is scheduled for Friday while we are away!)

Saturday was a day at home with housework and a bit of packing. Sunday was pretty much the same ensuring everything was sorted ready for our few days break this week.

What did you get up to last week?

I'm linking this with...

Monday Me #3

It's time to look back over the past week and see what you have been doing for you! It's important to have me time and that's what this linky is all about. Taking a few mins for yourself, even if it's reading a book, enjoying a coffee with a friend or getting very, very drunk at the weekend - you can share your post here.

My Monday Me

Weight loss
I've weighed myself this morning and I've lost 1lb! Only a small amount but I didn't put on or stay the same, a loss is a loss *woop woop*.

Hen night
Saturday night I headed to a local chinese buffet called Mandarin for a delicious meal followed by a cocktail bar and pub. I decided to be the driver so I didn't drink all night but I still had a fab time with the bride to be, her family and friends as well as my sister, mum and sister-in-law-to-be-one-day. The Mr was out with the stag do of the same couple and they went dog racing before we met back up later in the eve. I can't wait for the wedding reception next week... I just need to find a dress!



My sister, SIL and me

What have you done for you this week? I would love to hear about it so link up below if you have something to share. You can grab the badge from the right of my blog!

Project 366, 146/366 - A new friend

There is a broken fence panel and Spartan has been jumping up to have a nosey into next doors garden. He recently discovered that there is infact a lovely new poochie over there too and now whenever they are both outside they both go and say hello!