Tuesday, 30 July 2013

We're here....

Well we made it.

After what feels like an eternity we are all back together again, our family of five, safe and cosy in our new home.

My time of living in limbo has come to an end and I can start to enjoy every day again instead of each being a countdown to the big move.

Yesterday went really well, the removals guys were excellent, they packed up the house quickly, the stuff with the solicitors happened smoothly and we were on the road for our drive to East Sussex by 2pm. I'm now sat in my new dining room with the wi-fi working perfectly (if you have read any of my prior posts you will know this is a blessing) and I'm feeling anxious as I wait for the removals lorry to arrive. We are not exactly easy to find in our new home, the rain is pelting outside and the wind is blowing, not the greatest day for them but I suspect they must be used to it. I have sausage sandwiches and victoria sponge to offer them, I hope that helps a little.

I've been trying to put my thoughts into this post since last night but I'm not doing too well. I'm all jittery at the moment and the kids are too. I am such a control freak, I want everything to be as it should be - house sale completed, all our furniture and belongings moved into this house and put away, food in my fridge and kids feeling settled.

But they are not settled yet and that is to be expected of course. Last night as dh and I watched a bit of TV we could hear the girls giggling away upstairs, so excited to have finally made it here. By 10pm Miss M was being violently sick, from the over-excitement and thankfully Miss E slept soundly. Tonight we will have beds here for the first time and that will be so appreciated.

I assume JJ is feeling a little strange but he does not know how to explain it, he is teasing his sisters and just generally over-stepping the mark. He is such a big lad that I expect so much from him and generally he is really sensible and helpful, I do need to remember he is just 9 though.

The girls keep telling me they have never moved before and this is new for them, Miss M has been very clingy this morning and all these little clues and behaviours remind me that I am moving into a new season as we arrive here. This is my season to be a mother. Of course I've been a mother for nearly ten years now but right now it feels as if it is what God has made me for, it is where I am to focus most of my energies for the foreseeable future. It does not mean I won't do anything else but it does mean that family will come before most anything else.

Today I feel like I have a clean sheet and we start afresh, who knows what our future will hold.......... we will have to wait and see.

One thing I feel sure of, we are in the right place. God desires us to be here and for dh to be working in this Christian conference and prayer centre as part of his personal ministry. We have been made so welcome here and I can't wait to get to know all the other residents much better. A massive thanks to Hannah for the beautiful cake she dropped round last night.

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Saturday, 27 July 2013

Caption this #SatCap

It's been a long time since I joined in with #SatCap, so this post is well overdue. Why don't you come and join in with Cat and share your photo for captioning too.

What is my JJ up to?? Hot me with your best suggestions -



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Thursday, 25 July 2013

Reasons to be Cheerful - the holiday edition (week 30, year 3)

Reasons to be Cheerful at Mummy from the Heart
Hello, happy Thursday. I hope the sun has been shining on you!  I have been down in Dorset this last week and the weather has been fabulous, I am sunburnt and have even had a dip in the sea!

I am grateful for all things holiday related and time with my parents. We have had a great week - on the beach, in the pool, at the park, out for dinner, doing a spot of shopping, at the arcade, at the splash park, playing games as a family, doing some colouring and craft and just generally relaxing.


Now it is over to you - what is making you cheerful and grateful this week?

If you are new here, welcome.  Do go and have a read about why I started Reasons to be Cheerful and what I feel the key to happiness is. This is a very inclusive linky, it does not come with lots of rules. I just ask for common courtesy, write your post and link it up, say hi to me and then comment and say hi to a couple of other linked up bloggers. They should hopefully come and visit you too and we are all happy - comment love shared all round. I can't promise to get to you all this week I'm afraid as life is just too busy at the moment.

#R2BC Blogger of the week will also be back in a couple of weeks when I am settled in my new house.

Wishing you a wonderful week ahead.  Mich x
Link up now - 
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Wednesday, 24 July 2013

Growing garden peas, oh so easy!

I like a spot of gardening, you know when I have time and I have to be honest there has not been that much time of late and really I have no enthusiasm for it at the moment either. We are selling the house and moving to the countryside and that has not made me want to plant any flowers this year or tend to our vegetable patch. Right now after this heatwave our grass is like golden straw and seeing as I gave the strimmer away a couple of months back areas are a tad overgrown!

However, I just want to show you that despite my neglect the garden is still growing and the peas that dh just slung in the raised bed before he moved away have done wonderfully - despite me not watering them, nor tying them to the canes to help them grow tall! #whoops

It is so good to get the kids involved and last year they loved growing their own carrots, spuds, courgettes etc and in the future they will be even more garden savvy as the house we are going to live in has numerous fruit and veg gardens in the grounds!







I'm joining in with Mammasaurus -

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Monday, 22 July 2013

Cadbury refrigerator cake for the girls birthday #Cbias

Disclosure: I am a member of the Collective Bias®  Social Fabric® Community.  This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias and their client.

We are on holiday this week in Poole, Dorset with the grandparents and the kids are having super fun - beach, swimming, play parks, dog walks - all the things they enjoy. Poor Daddy has been left home but we will see him soon enough. Last week it was the girls 6th Birthday and this holiday was what they chose instead of a party. Good news for me as I get to enjoy this too. A party - not so much so!


As they did not really have a proper birthday cake on their birthday as it was a school day and we are in the throws of packing and house moving at the moment I told them we could make a cake together on holiday. They loved the idea of this and as soon as we got to the house we checked out the kitchen for equipment. Well it seems I overestimated a holiday/student let and we really did not have the kit for a decent cake. Quick thinking of my feet had me suggesting that we make a refrigerator/ rocky road type cake together. They were thrilled with this idea and off we set off to Asda to buy lots of ingredients including some yummy Cadbury chocolate (my favourite, inherited from my Dad who is Dairy Milk crazy).

This is what we bought ourselves, the girls decided they did not want raisins and cherries in their refrigerator cake, but instead we would have crunchie and curly wurly pieces!

Miss E and I got to work in the kitchen and yet again found a few shortcomings we had to get round. The scales did not have a bowl with them and we did not have any cling-film. Not to be deterred we soldiered on! A plastic tub and some ripped open freezer bags did the job for us.

Cadbury Curly Wurly and Crunchie Refrigerator Cake

Ingredients -
5 oz Cadbury Dairy Milk
5 oz Bourneville dark chocolate
6 oz digestives biscuits
4 oz golden syrup
4 oz unsalted butter
2 crunchie bars 
2 curly wurlys
1/2 packet small marshmallows

Method - 

1. measure out all your ingredients

2. Cover a shallow lipped square/oblong dish in cling-film and leave overhang (or bags if like me you don't have any cling-film - it worked fine)

3. Prepare the items you want to go in your refrigerator cake, for us this meant bashing the digestives with a rolling pin, bashing the Crunchies and cutting up the Curly Wurlys into small bits


4. Place the broken up chocolate, butter and golden syrup in a bowl over hot water and melt (I had to place my bowl in, which was not ideal but it worked)

5. Miss M came to join in at this stage, mix the hot melted chocolate into all the other ingredients and make sure they are all well coated.

6. Place the mixture into your cling filmed dish and decorate the top with marshmallows, sweets, nuts - whatever you fancy putting in it. Then put it in the fridge overnight to set well.

7. Chop into manageable pieces and serve with a nice cool glass of milk (for them) or a cup of tea (for us adults)

Yum - can you see those pieces of Crunchie in there?  I'd highly recommend using cut-up Curly Wurly too - it is really good!

I'm pleased to say that my little ladies were very happy with their cake and although it was not the traditional sponge with candles it was enjoyed none the less.

What do you put in your refrigerator cake - any good tips for us?

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Sunday, 21 July 2013

I see the best of you and the worst of me...


I received  a PR pitch today, nothing new about that in itself, I receive a couple of dozen every day, what struck me about this one was that the person said that they were enjoying seeing the pictures of my new home in the country and it was apparent I was living an idyllic, near perfect life.

This concerned me somewhat as I have always prided myself on being an honest blogger, one who tells it as it is. I blog about all things in my life not just the great things, I talk about when it all goes wrong, when I'm frustrated, when I'm distraught and of course when life is full of joy. I do choose to take a positive stance on life even when faced with challenges but I hope that does not come across as smug or as if everything is rosy in my life and I am one of those people who really do live a near perfect life. What do you think?

I suppose the trouble comes when someone dips into your blog and reads just the last few posts and all they see is your current situation. When you take small portions of anyone's life you never get the full picture, there is always more going on and more layers than you can imagine. It is a good reminder for me that we must be careful not to compare ourselves to others, as what we nearly always see is a snapshot of their best, that one point in time when things look perfect. There are some blogs I visit and I see their house and think wow it is immaculate, I'd love mine to look like that or I drool over the dinner they have made and wish I could cook fancy too. Then I realise it might just be 'their best' and not 'their norm' they are sharing.

Take for example, when I share a nice picture on here of my family, it generally looks good but behind it were the 10 shots that I took when no-one looked in the right direction, JJ thumped Miss M or whatever else happened. By not sharing it I'm not pretending it does not happen, there is just a small space to share what I wish to and thus the best ones make the cut. But I really do hope you know the back story and realise that this blog is the story of a very real and imperfect family.

The situation then gets more complex as what people generally do when making comparisons to others is think about their worst. So instead of seeing us on an even footing and knowing that both you and I have good and bad days, we start to think that your days are always good and mine are always rubbish and therefore your life is more idyllic and perfect than mine and I'm just a big fat failure.  Whoa, all perspective has been lost at this point and I'm fighting a losing battle to stay in a good mood.

It is so important for me to remember and for you to see, there are things I'm good at, others I'm really at crap at and some just in between and I do OK - that's life!

Do you ever find yourself looking at other people/ blogs and getting down when you see what they are up to, how wonderful their kids are, what superb dress sense they have etc etc?  Let's just dump that envy and remember to want what we already have and to be sincerely grateful for what we have been given.

Life is so much better when you are content and that might just be what people see on my blog, rather than a perfect, idyllic life.

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Saturday, 20 July 2013

Happy Anniversary Babe

My anniversary card - not what you might expect but just perfect as we embark on our new country life together

Today is my 11th wedding anniversary and instead of spending it with dh I am spending it with our kids. He will be working hard and then spending the night alone in our new house and I'll be on holiday with my parents and the kids. It would be easy to get down about the fact that we won't be together but that would achieve nothing and in just nine days our family will be back together and we will all be in our new house and commencing our new country life together. This is a new season for us and involves lots of change for everyone. Change is good but it is also scary...... but we'll be fine, God is with us.

Over the last six years it has been all too easy to push our anniversary to the side and not to think much about it. Our girls were born two days before our anniversary and as such the weekend around our anniversary is now taken up with birthday festivities for them and that is OK, they are only little and dh and I both agree that the kids are what make us happiest. However, it is really good to remember that a strong marriage needs time invested in it too and that does not mean a once a year special day, it means working at it every day and I know I need to do more of that. One of my summer promises to myself was that I would tell dh every day that I love him and I will. Something so little but I just know it will really help my attitude and approach towards our marriage. We will get back to some date nights and we hope to have a weekend away just the two of us later in the year.

Eleven years ago today I had no idea how happy I would be now. I was marrying a man that I loved and we had already been through eight turbulent years together but I had no idea how fulfilling life could get. Today I have so much love and joy in my life that I can hardy put it into words. We don't have a ton of money, we don't have flashy cars and we don't go abroad on holiday but we have so much and I'm so grateful to God for finding me my perfect husband.

Adam, I love you so much. You are my rock, my other half and my love of my life. Here is to the next 11 years, well actually I hope the next 50 years.

Even though I'm not with you right now, I look at these rings each day and know we are still together.



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Thursday, 18 July 2013

Reasons to be Cheerful - Keeping it in the day (week 29, year 3)

Reasons to be Cheerful at Mummy from the Heart
 
Good morning all, how are you this fine and sunny day? I'm still living in limbo, surrounded by boxes avidly waiting to move and praying the house sale goes through - it all takes time and is very good at helping to me to learn patience and also to trust in God.

When I was thinking about #R2BC this week and what I might theme it around I realised that I needed to redevelop my 'attitude of gratitude' and as such I went through Wednesday with my eyes wide open spotting every opportunity to say thank you to the Lord for all the good in my life.

Here is a list of every blessing or opportunity I saw to see Grace in small things -
  • I woke in a comfy bed, after a full nights sleep and next to me was a softly snoozing little beauty (Miss E, the girls are sharing my bed at the moment as a treat as Daddy is not here)
  • The kids all got ready for school in good time and we were there early enough for a play for them and chat for me
  • I got some more packing done and I would say the house is now at least 90% done
  • The sun is shining brightly and as such my washing is drying super quick
  • The change of address cards have been sent to our relatives and friends
  • I did anther charity shop drop and now some others can benefit from the girls books and puzzles that we gave away
  • My chicken salad wrap for lunch was super yummy
  • I got a load more free boxes for packing I treated myself to an electric screwdriver to take the beds apart tomorrow (it's all rock and roll here)
  • The estate agent chased up our buyer and things seem to be on track
  • I bought all the cards I need for the August birthdays, nothing like getting organised
  • A gift card I was waiting for arrived and I treated myself to a couple of things at Debenhams in the sale
  • Watching JJ and his class in their little music performance, a 15 minute interlude of calm
  • Watching the kids have a water fight in the garden before their shower, they love this so much
  • All the kids falling asleep with minimal fuss tonight
  • Watching the Apprentice final and seeing the Luisa did not win
  • Getting an early night myself
I can't not mention the great weekend we had with dh as well and we so look forward to being back with him full-time in a couple of weeks.




Blogger of the week

This week I'd like to shout to a great blogger that I met at BritMums Live this year. Jo blogs at Ojos World and she had been linking up to #R2BC for some time now. One of the things I have loved best about reading jo's blog is her very evident love for her husband, married for over 20 years, they appear to have a very strong and real marriage.

Join in.....
If you are new here, welcome.  Do go and have a read about why I started Reasons to be Cheerful and what I feel the key to happiness is. This is a very inclusive linky, it does not come with lots of rules. I just ask for common courtesy, write your post and link it up, say hi to me and then comment and say hi to a couple of other linked up bloggers. They should hopefully come and visit you too and we are all happy - comment love shared all round. I promise to get to you all this weekend, I'm afraid life has been manic and I missed you last week.

Wishing you a wonderful week ahead.  Mich x

Link up now -
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Wednesday, 17 July 2013

He called me his hero!

Aviva are running a campaign at the moment called 'Every child has a (super) hero' and they pose the question 'are you theirs?'. As soon as I saw it I was able to shout 'yes' and I remembered a half-written post I had in drafts from last September.

I'll copy here what I had started to write all those months ago-
On the way home from school today I was chatting to the kids about their day and JJ was telling me that lunchtime was a bit rubbish as some other kids kicked him and his friends off the football pitch.  In the hope of getting onto better ground I asked how his lessons were today and he told me they were a bit rubbish too.  Apparently they were doing RE (Religious Education) and they had to write about who their hero was, he thought this was pretty naff as he is a bit of a stickler for things being correct and he could not fathom how heroes fitted into RE.
He said that everyone had to name their hero and who would I say? So I talked a little about Jesus being my hero and that was probably why this had come up in RE, as there were lots of people like me who felt their God was the most awesome hero.  I got a bit of a huff at this (he is 9 after all) and I asked who he had said was his hero then. This was when my heart swelled as he told me quite matter-of-factly that I was his hero. I was a special Mum as I liked to help other people, he thought it was cool that I made shoe boxes for less fortunate kids at Christmas and that I was travelling abroad to try and help people too. You can't ask for much more than that, can you?
I'm not sure why that post never made it live, I must have got busy but it is certainly something I'll never forget. It is the little things that stay with you as a parent. But why was Aviva asking this question you must be wondering? Well, they spoke to loads of parents and most agreed that the most heroic thing you can do as a parent is to protect the future of your family. No one likes to think about what will happen if the worst scenario comes about but I certainly think it is necessary.

Since dh and I got our first mortgage in 1997 we have had life insurance to ensure that the other has adequate protection if something bad happened to one of us. Once we had our first child in 2003 we then added critical illness cover as it felt much more necessary to ensure that we would all be secure if one of us got really ill. Can you imagine the stress of trying to look after three small children, whilst working full-time to ensure you can pay the mortgage? Oh no, we want to ensure that if one of us gets critically ill, or God forbid dies then at least the children can continue to live the lifestyle they have become used to. Not one full of extravagance but just one they know and can take comfort in.

Of course, the situation is different for every family and it is important to seek independent financial advice if you are looking to make important changes in your life. Dh and I are in the process of moving at the moment and that throws up all sorts of decisions we need to make as we will no longer have a mortgage nor generous salaries, so it will be back to the drawing board and we need to work out exactly what cover we need now. Thankfully for us we have a deep faith in the Lord and that carries us a long way.

I spotted that Aviva offers a free life insurance policy for new parents, you can have £10,000 of cover free of charge until your child turns one. If you are on maternity leave this gives you space to get back to work and be earning again and buys you time to make arrangements for full cover (if that is what you decide to do). Aviva offer a whole host of different covers that you might be interested in and their website is full of helpful information - take a look!



Tuesday, 16 July 2013

Happy pretend birthday girls

This coming week my girls turn 6, I really can’t believe time has gone by so quick but here we are and they are certainly very grown up now. As you’ll know Daddy has moved to our new house in the country and thus he won’t see the girls on their actual birthday so last Saturday we had a pretend birthday and the five of us celebrated as a family.

We had a great day and all three kids fell into bed and went to sleep without any fuss, always the sign of a great day out. Daddy was also asleep by 9.15pm so we wore him out as well, I’m a bit more hard core and stayed up to write this post.

The day started with breakfast in our new dining room and some present opening by the girls, just a few small gifts so Daddy could share in the fun and hardly any money spent but I was very impressed with their gratitude and enjoyment of the simple gifts. We then headed out for a stroll around the grounds and we found a hazelnut tree and some blackberry bushes, so later in the autumn we will have fun over there doing some picking and then of course eating too.


We all packed into the car and drove to Eastbourne and found that the Sovereign harbour has changed so much since we last went there 19 years ago. We had a truly superb lunch in the Harvester and the food and service was exceptional.  I’m normally pretty hard to please but I’d recommend this in an instant (and yes we were paying customers). The harbour reminded us of being abroad with the al fresco eating, boats and balmy summer weather.


After lunch it was time for a treat for the girls and we walked over to Cineworld, we had parked here earlier and there is a ton of free parking. The staff at the cinema were very nice and courteous and we had no issues with them, the cinema was clean and tidy and had a super display of pick and mix, as always with cinemas though it is a little on the expensive side. The kids loved the Sully and Mike display from Monsters University, after a quick photo opportunity we headed into the cinema and I was quite surprised how small the cinema was but the screen was plenty big enough.

The girls had grabbed a boaster seat each and we all settled down, the seats were comfy (none of that rocking nonsense you get in some cinemas) and there was good leg room, even for a 6 footer like my husband. We had about 30 minutes of trailers and a little film called the Blue Umbrella, it did feel a bit excessive and the girls were starting to get a bit tetchy by the time the film started. However, we all really enjoyed Monsters University and I’d happily recommend it as a great family watch.

The Cineworld in Eastbourne looks as if it is a fairly old cinema, the toilets look a bit tired but they were clean and well maintained and that is the important thing. I love that you can purchase your ticket and food items together, none of this queueing twice nonsense. The film we saw was in 3D and you need to either take your own glasses or purchase reusable glasses in the cinema for the cost of 80p per pair. Add that to the film cost of £33.71 for the 5 of us if I had booked online and enjoyed the current 20% family discount and it would in truth be a costly couple of hours. However I checked and it would still be abut £8.00 cheaper than seeing the film at an Odeon. So Cineworld are very competitive and there are no online booking fees nowadays. 

There are some great deals to be had at Cineworld, it is definitely worth checking out the Saturday morning Movies for Juniors, we go to this at least every other month currently in Stevenage and for £1 we watch a great film. We normally have to book in advance to ensure we get seats but in doing so we get discount as I registered for a Cineworld account. I do like Cineworld as a chain they seem to have some great deals, like the summer 20% off family tickets, you can also use Tesco deals vouchers, which is always a big plus with me and they have a fabulous unlimited monthly subscription for £15.90, I wish they had done this when dh and I were younger we would certainly have gone for that and seen a couple of movies every week.


We did not want the fun to end there and all bundled back in the car and headed home looking for what we might do next. On route the kids spotted a play park and with a quick U-turn from me it was time for a play - Mum and Dad included. The sun was still beating down and the kids were by now after an ice-cream, so we decided to explore Hailsham and see what we could turn up. Waitrose came up trumps with cornetto’s for all and Daddy had the great idea that we should buy some picnic items and then head down by our lake and have tea there.


So that is what we did – ham rolls, crisps and a few games of Dobble by the water and then a quick run around the field with the football. It has been a busy old day and the kids had great fun but bath time had arrived and now everyone is sleeping soundly, I think that is where I will head too….


Disclosure: We were provided with complimentary tickets and 3D glasses for Cineworld.
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Monday, 15 July 2013

Preparing for country life

Of course I realised I would have to take lots of practical steps towards our move to the countryside but I did not realise to begin with that there would be so many things that I would need to mentally come to terms with changing. I won’t allow myself to get down though there are solutions/ plus-sides for all these little niggles.

Single lane roads
Having spent a few weekends at our new house just recently, I have learnt and been frustrated by the small, country roads. The entrance to our house (through the big country estate) is a one lane road and there are various ‘passing places’ so you have to allow at least an extra five minutes to get anywhere in case you end up reversing back so you can then go forward! Not forgetting what trouble you can get in if you take a wrong turn off one of the country roads. I am really not big on the tiny tracks there are so many of round here, I even feel nervous when dh is driving. However, just think how skilled I will become, in a few month’s time when I need to reverse park in a tight space it will be a piece of cake.

In the middle of nowhere
You then start to realise that everywhere you want to go is a long way. School is about 5 miles, the nearest shop is about the same, the nearest decent sized supermarket is more like 8 miles. A café – a good 4 mile drive and an Indian take-away well probably six. There is no walking out to the shops like I do now or nipping to the post office, oh no things will need to be planned. Just think how uber organised I will become and I’ll be making sure I combine all my jobs into one day to save on petrol costs.

Internet, what internet?
I am told that the internet on site where I live is being switched to a new router, I pray this helps as at the moment I can’t get any single in my house. Friday night saw me sitting in dh’s office at work so I could get some blogging done – is this my future? I sure hope not as it will be nice to spend my evenings with dh. What is the upside of this one? Well it is going to ensure that I only do what is necessary instead of getting pulled into all sorts of online malarkey's. Longer term I may just have to explore if we can get our own provider to our house as I’m sure JJ will be lost without his internet connection when the cold winter months come.

TV Channels
At the moment we have Virgin Media cable TV and whilst we don’t subscribe to a massive package we do have all the kids favourite channels and that helps our whirlwind Miss M to wind-down sometimes when she is too manic. At the moment here we have just a few channels that we receive via the ariel, I think we will definitely need to invest in a freeview box to help boast our channel list. How will I live without iCarly, Victorious and Jessie let alone the girls?

It sounds a bit bleak and Thursday and Friday last week I was having a bit of a crisis about what we were doing and then you spend just a couple of days here and you are captivated all over again. I can’t at the moment, g out to play with the kids in this –


We can’t pack our picnic tea and then head to the lake and enjoy time as a family, all within a 5 minute walk of our front door –


And I haven’t got instant access to 220 acres of private estate and something new to discover every day - all without getting in a car -


This is a commissioned post but it is all completely true and a post I wanted to write anyway.


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Sunday, 14 July 2013

Clarks 100 things to do before you are 10 - Water fun!

When Clarks told me they were launching a list of 100 things that every child should do before they are 10, I started to worry a little. My JJ is turning 10 at the beginning of October and that does not leave us long to be able to get through 100 things!

The first part of the 100 long list launched on 10th July and I think it is a great free resource to give parents a little prompter of things that could be fun to try out over the long summer holiday. The 50 Spring/ Summer activities include some corkers like hosting a great summer bake-off and creating a garden assault course.

Clarks sent me a little box of goodies and suggested a few activities that I might like to try out with my kids.  I was very pleased to see that not all of the activities require loads of preparation, time or money, there are simple ones like climb a tree. What I can say is that they are all designed to be fun.

The first task that the kids and I decided to take on was to 'enjoy water wars', activity number 32. In our box was some water bombs and I told the kids early in the day that before bath time that night they could have some fun in the garden, the excitement started to build straight away. I realised that whilst I'm a nice Mum and they love me, I'm not a spontaneous kind of fun mum and water fights would not be big on my agenda normally.

The sad news was that I could not get the water bombs to fill up, it turns out our kitchen sink mixer tap was just not made for filling water bombs. Of course I couldn't let the kids down so we filled up some bottle and they had fun with those, getting soaked in the process. What I realised is that it does not matter what they use they just want to get soaked and enjoy themselves.

Have a peek at the fun they had -


Yes, I really should have taken that washing down first!

Why don't you see what you fancy doing from the list this summer?


Disclosure: I was provided with Clarks vouchers to take part in this initiative.  I have not been told what to write and I remain honest.
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If you like what you have read and want to stay up-to-date then subscribe by email for free and receive blog posts directly to your in-box - just click the link Subscribe to Mummy From The Heart... by Email or perhaps you like to keep all your blog reading in one place, if that is the case you can follow me on BlogLovin too!Follow on Bloglovin