If I won the lottery...

This is a topic that my partner, Christopher and I discuss frequently. We don’t play the lottery religiously, only when we are feeling lucky. But it’s nice to dream!

I don’t agree that money makes you happy but it’s got to help surely? At the moment, the only debt we have is our mortgage. Christopher is against having anything on finance and we even manage to save a little each month. But wouldn’t it be nice if we didn’t have to worry about money? If it just looked after itself? If we didn’t have to worry if one of us became ill or lost our jobs? Wouldn’t it be nice if we could go food shopping and not worry about the cost?

I would love to win enough money to secure the future of my daughters and to settle any debts that my family have. We would move to a larger house in the country and buy a couple of new cars. A few nice big family holidays are a must, but I would definitely want to invest some into my own business, probably my own day nursery or pre-school.

My plans don’t sound very exciting but I can imagine a lot of responsibility comes with winning the lottery. It would be a dream come true but I would be very careful not to flash the cash!

Love and cuggies,

Alison x

My Bucket List

Wow! I'm getting really behind with the Outmumbered Blog Every Day in August challenge!

I've not crossed anything off my bucket list... because I don't have one! I like the idea but there's a couple of things bugging me. How many things do I need on my list? I don't particularly want to go jumping out of a plane or bungee jumping, so is it ok that my list is not really wacky? What happens if I don't achieve everything? Is the list set in stone or can I add to it?

Am I overthinking it a bit? Probably. Here's a couple of things I would like to do at some point in my life...

• Become a foster parent - it saddens that not all children are as privileged as my girls, especially as some of those children could live right around the corner.
• Get to my ideal weight - this one is not going to happen any time soon. Not with this cake and custard next to me!
• Try a yoga class - not a DVD or a Kinect game, a real yoga class with a real instructor and real people.
• Run the London Marathon - it's one way to get to my ideal weight!
• Go on a skiing holiday - maybe I should add 'learn to ski' first...
• Experience the magic of Disneyland with my girls - hopefully for my 30th...
• Visit New York at Christmas - it just looks amazing!

Love and cuggies,

Alison x

15 things that make me happy.

Day 9 of the Blog Every Day in August challenge by Outmumbered.

Lots of things make me smile but apart from the obvious family and friends, these things make me especially happy:

1. Sleeping
2. Fish and chips by the sea
3. Snow
4. Surprise flowers
5. Camping
6. Muddy puddles
7. Freezing cold nights snuggled up in front of our beloved log burner
8. Made in Chelsea
9. The magic of Christmas
10. Autumn walks
11. Days out at the zoo or farm or anywhere with animals
12. New shoes
13. Domino's pizza night
14. Making other people happy
15. Seeing children having fun, learning and achieving

Love and cuggies,

Alison x

A peek inside my bag...

Todays post, as part of the Blog Every Day in August challenge hosted by Outmumbered, I am required identify what's inside my handbag. So here it is, my Pinklining, Mum on the Run bag.

I couldn't really justify having the larger Yummy Mummy bag as I had a perfectly good changing bag from when Heidi was a baby. So I settled for this smaller one which is perfect for when I don't need to take the entire changing bag out. As well as the matching changing mat, it also contains:

• my purse
• phone
• keys
• lip balm
• a bobble
• three plasters
• two Hoo Farm sheep race badges
• a pack of travel wipes
• a size 3 nappy

I also take a larger changing bag out with me but I try to leave it in the car if possible.

 

I didn't take a photo of the entire contents as that would have taken me forever and a day to organise! But here's a general idea:

 

• Nappies
• wipes
• nappy sacks
• changing mat
• bibs
• spare clothes for Harriet
• spare clothes for Heidi
• x2 sunhats
• suncream
• hand sanitizer
• sudocrem
• teething gel
• sachets of Calpol
• x2 bottles of milk
• random toys/teething rings for Harriet
• Anything else Heidi has thrown in

 

I think the kitchen sink might be in there somewhere too!

 

 

Love and cuggies,

 

Alison x

 



 

Day 7 BEDA Challenge

Ok, so I've missed a couple of blog posts for the Blog Every Day in August challenge hosted by Outmumbered, but I've been super busy!

My parents are on their holibobs so I've been helping my sister out with child care. Heidi has loved having her cousin Billy to play with. We've had some lovely days out although I am absolutely shattered! Entertaining a nine-year-old and a potty-training two-year-old with a very clingy four-month-old is hard work!

Tittesworth Reservoir was a huge success! We played in the park for most of the day and as Heidi refuses to use a toilet we kept popping back to the car so she could use the potty which wasn't that far away! We enjoyed a little picnic and I treated them both to an ice-cream which obviously went down well.

The day after we visited Hoo Farm in Telford. It's about 45 minutes away so I was quite anxious about the trip for a few reasons.

1. We could get lost.
2. Heidi may need a wee or worse..
3. I'm not that confident at driving on country roads and I'll have three children in the car.
4. It was going to be absolutely packed and I'm rubbish at parking my little Kia Picanto never mind the big family car!

I needn't have worried. the journey there went smoothly and as few showers had been forecast, the car park was relatively empty. We wellied-up and headed off... to the toilets! I put my foot down with the potty situation and successfully persuaded Heidi to try a tinkle on the toilet. Result! We enjoyed wandered around, feeding the sheep and goats and nosying in the little houses in Hoosville.

The pigs were smelly and one pig wiped his nose on Heidi's trousers which nearly triggered a tantrum, until she saw me laughing!






















We saw loads of animals, lemurs, meercats, donkeys, deer etc. After a big play in the play area, we picked a winner in the sheep steeple chase then headed home for a well deserved brew. Phew!






















Anyway, back to the challenge.

A Special Memory
My most precious memories are of the births of Heidi and Harriet which I have already wrote about on my blog.

My Playlist
I'm afraid it's the Frozen soundtrack all the way at the moment, and on the odd occasion the car is child free I just pop the radio on. I'll sing along to anything, even the annoyingly catchy jingles!

Love and cuggies,

Alison x

In 10 years time...

In ten years there are a few things that will be definite.

• I'll be 38.
• I'll be working as a primary school teacher.
• I'll be Mrs rather than a Miss.

I'm about to start my final year of the Foundation Degree in Early Childhood Studies. I graduate next summer but then I still need to top up and complete the PGCE before I'm a teacher. I know I've gone about it in a bit of a complicated way. I could have gone to university straight after college to do the teacher training course full time but accepted a job in a day nursery instead. But I don't regret it at all. While I would have been a bit further along in my career, I wouldn't have met my lovely Christopher, bought our house or had our beautiful daughters if I had gone to uni straight away. The next few years are going to be a struggle but I am very determined to get Qualified Teacher Status and to be settled in a primary school by the time I'm 38.

The other point is more straight forward. I've waited for 8 years so far. He needs to get a wriggle on!

There are lots of things that are less definite but still very much part of the plan!

• I hope to have another baby (without affecting the above plan too much!)
• I hope that my children and family are happy, healthy and content.
• I hope that the campervan fund will have morphed into an actual campervan, not dissimilar to this one, and that we will have made lots of family holiday memories!
• I hope that we will finally be happy with our house! I love our house but there's still loads to be done to it. A little conservatory and a new bathroom, kitchen and drive wouldn't go amiss...

Above everything else, I hope that we are all as happy as we are now, if not a bit more!

Love and cuggies,

Alison x

My Favourite Quote

Today has been tough. We've had tears, tantrums and one almighty full-scale-emotional-meltdown from my two year old, Heidi. Harriet, who is 4 months, has fussed all day and at one point, I'm pretty sure we were all crying! I think we are finally out the other side now. Well, they are both in bed at least! Now everything has calmed down, I better get cracking with the third post for the Blog Every Day in August Challenge hosted by Outmumbered.

My favourite quote is less of a quote and more of a poem, so I hope I'm not cheating! I had to do a bit of Googling, but I found it's quite popular! I read it while pregnant with Harriet and it inspired me to take maternity leave a lot earlier than I intended, to spend time with Heidi and to enjoy my pregnancy.



Rebekah Knight

This poem brings a tear to my eye each time I read it. And it's so true. I need to slow down. Being a parent is hard. It's messy, tiring, frustrating and stresses me out! But Heidi isn't going to be a terrible two year old for much longer. Harriet has already changed so much in 4 months! People like to tell me time will fly and I hate to say it but, they're right. Before I know it they are going to be grown up with children of their own. I need to savour each and every day, no matter how awful it's been, because they're not going to be my babies forever.

Love and cuggies,

Alison x



20 Facts About Me

So here's my second post for the Blog Every Day in August challenge. This one has been a toughie! 20 whole facts about me? I may have been scraping the barrel for some!

1. I'm a bookworm. I love, love, love reading. I read to my daughter every night without fail.
2. I've killed almost every plant I've owned. Strangely, the orchid is still alive...
3. I'm a girly girl.
4. I'm a member of the National Trust.
5. I'm secretly worried about the state of the planet.
6. I love Christmas!
7. I'm always singing.
8. I've been driving for 6 years but I still hate driving on dual carriageways and turning right. I've been on the motorway twice.
9. I don't like buttons. Obviously not the chocolate variety.
10. I love house hunting even though we are not moving house.
11. I'm messy and unorganised. I have no idea how I'm going to get myself and two small children ready to leave the house at 8am when I return to work. It's just not going to happen.
12. I hate having my photo taken. I'm just not photogenic. I'm not a brilliant photographer either!
13. I thought sloe gin referred to how it was made. Slowly...
14. I hate horror films. I don't see the point in giving myself nightmares.
15. I love, love, love camping! 
16. I'm still not married. God damn it!
17. I don't class myself as a babywearer but I love my moby wrap. It's the most comfortable thing ever!
18. I tried to breastfeed my second daughter and loved it until she lost loads of weight. I totally respect anyone who breastfeeds!
19. I'm gave birth to my second daughter on the bedroom floor with no one but my partner, mother-in-law and a midwife on loud speaker.
20. My children mean the world to me!

Sorry about the lack of photos, Harriet really cannot cope without being in my arms today, bless her!

Love and cuggies,

Alison x

All about me...

I'm very new to all this blogging lark and as well as finding time to write, I've also had to get my head around Twitter! However, I'm addicted already and have read loads of lovely blogs on parenting and family life.

I thought I'd join in with some of the fun and challenges that are out there for bloggers so here's my first post for the Blog Every Day in August challenge hosted by the fantastic Emma on her blog Outmumbered. This is not going to be easy but I'm hoping it will get me into the swing of things! So here we go...

This is me, Alison. I'm a mother to two beautiful girls, Heidi and Harriet, and I've been with Christopher for 8 years. We all live in our little house in Staffordshire, UK.

I'm currently on maternity leave from my job as an early years practitioner, which I absolutely love! I'm also studying part-time with the hope of becoming a primary school teacher. Early years education is my passion!

I love days out at the zoo, building sandcastles on the beach, searching for princesses and knights in castles and going on bear hunts. I love my Hunter wellies! I love the winter, when everything is frozen and covered in sparkly frost, just as much as I love lazing around the garden on hot summer days.

I also love wine, chocolate, pampering myself and sleeping!

Let's hope I can keep this up!

Alison x