Soft Play Fun- review

I love a soft play Centre and today myself and my little man went to one we haven’t been to before. The staff were so friendly, saying hello to MJ as we went in before me… I like that in places for kids. The price was reasonable compared to others we have visited. The whole place was clean and tidy, the staff were continuously busy. MJ went straight into the play area and had lots of fun climbing, he was able to do all of the areas which he loved, only one area is a struggle for adults but only children able should really go on the larger slide anyway so this wasn’t an issue. I played with him for a little while but was then able to sit and watch him whilst I had a drink… Loved that I could see the whole play area… Easy to keep an eye on him.

I was so pleased to find somewhere that had soya milk and decaf as others I have previously visited had said they wouldn’t sell it 😞 My hot chocolate was lush. For lunch I ordered a bacon panini, it was lovely but Way to much food on my plate, only half the amount of crisps and salad were really needed. The staff were happy to answer all my food questions (I am fussy) and went out of their way to ensure I was happy. The childrens meal deal was a fabulous price at £3.80 and MJ enjoyed it all. One slight thing, it wasn’t until sandwich arrived that I realised I wasn’t given a choice of brown or white bread for him… Will ask that next time though he did eat it anyway.

Our first experience of the Hive at Shefford in Bedfordshire was very positive and we look forward to go back again soon.

 

Our summer of Bug hunting

this summer we have enjoyed searching for bugs both at home in our garden and out and about in our local area. Not only have we enjoyed finding bugs but equally we have enjoyed finding out what they are, searching through books and on the Internet has helped us discover the names of the bugs we find.

Our favourite moment this summer was meeting a emthamplogist up on the pinnacle near where we live who told us so much we didn’t know about bees. We sat watching the bees going in and out of the wholes they had made in the ground. This was a very lucky moment that we got to see.

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  Here are some of our finds from the summer

BYTHAM SPINNEY Even the adults can join in x

This place is brilliant, it’s fun to explore and discover, it’s not to big that you will get lost, you can pop along for a quick visit or even stay longer…

A park hidden in the spinney (small group of trees) in a beautiful village on the edge of Lincolnshire between Stamford and Bourne.

We found this place very easily as we spotted the bunting and signs about current events. They have a small car park and an overflow car park which is more than enough. The area has picnic benches dotted around and although no toilets as such, we did spot a portaloo hidden in the trees in case of emergencies.

The first thing we found was a rope swing, always a favourite with my little adventurers (and also the adults lol) we found a fab hill of mud to slide down on our bums then carried on through whilst watching the trains going by through the high fences. Walking on you come to zip wires, bridges, swings and a mini play area all safely fenced in for the little tots.

 

 

 

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over the past several years… ok decades lol… I have collected random things I have found on the beach, shells, pebbles, driftwood etc… I love picking up something new and today the kids and I tipped them out and had a play…

using all the wonderful natural collection we created ‘BEACH ART’ Making creatures, scenes and faces, they played for an hour and had so much fun creating and re creating…

Have a go and please share your creations, on here, Instagram or Facebook.

Happy creating x

His heart is Normal…

A post appeared from three years ago that simply read, his heart is normal. I wrote this about my little baby boy. He has just been in the royal Brompton at less than two weeks old for a check on his hear, we knew his heart was causing problems but they said they wanted to check it wasn’t more serious… que seriously nervous mumma. Well the results were good, it was normal…. I Love seeing memories pop up on my time line ❤️ (apologise for long post… feeling emotional) This was a good day but still the middle of a stressful time.
His heart was labelled as physically ‘normal’ but with SVT he can never not be aware of the possibility of a reoccurrence, he was on beta blockers for the first year of his life to control it and we hoped, teach it to beat correctly. Then, one year on we were told he ‘should’ be OK, but to always be aware of the symptoms… he’s had a few scary moments, lots of ambulance trips and he’s won over the hearts of MANY nurses, doctors, secretary’s and playworkers on his travels. We have managed to ‘naturally’ shock his heart back into rhythm many times, it sounds so much scarier than it really is as I’m so used to dealing with it, what scares me is that he may always have relapses for various reasons, we just don’t know.
We had never heard of SVT, we knew nobody with it and having your week old baby rushed to hospital and dunked head first in an ice bucket was really not what I expected. Milo doesn’t suffer daily, he’s one of the lucky ones that has been able to ‘naturally’ deal with his heart rate… others are less Lucky and suffer daily with surgery and strong meds being the only option they have.
Knowing what the symptoms are is so important, I was so thankful that I persisted after being told by the first doctor, basically that I was a paranoid new mum (errr this was my third child and you sir were an idiot, it’s ok I have told him 😜) So today, with my gorgeous healthy little man, now three years old, I want to make more people aware of SVT I felt like I had no clue what was going on, the staff did an amazing job of trying to explain things but as I had never heard of it, I needed to find out for myself. It’s scary to think if I had have listened to that first doctor, if I hadn’t have picked up on the symptoms, life may have been so different.
So, you know me… always finding a new event to focus on. I have decided I need to raise awareness even if only a little portion of the world, so over the next 16 months I will be raising money for British Heart Foundation, our thank you for their research and helping us with our little boy. I will end my fundraising madness with my own challenge, something that will test my heart as I leave my gorgeous family and struggle my way along the steep trek of the inca trail, ending at Machu Picchu in Peru…

I know, I know, I must be mad! currently I’m questioning how this is actually going to happen as I joined the gym a few weeks ago and I’m sooo unfit! 😬 but with amazing sponsorships and I hope all the wonderful people in our lives will help me through I CAN DO THIS! If you see me out walking with a giant back pack on please give me a beep or cheer and help me get through this. It’s all for our gorgeous boy.
Watch this space for fundraising events.
Thank you 😘😘😘❤️❤️❤️

SVT affects around 35 in every 100,000 people that’s approximately 25,000 in the U.K. alone and often in people who are fit and healthy, however many people may only have one episode in a life time… would you know what was happening?

 

I want to inspire my kids…

Source: I want to inspire my kids…

His first birthday

Just found this i did on little mans first birthday

Twelve months have gone by quickly
our boy as grown so much
he’s gone from tiny baby
to toddler that can’t help but touch.

He touches all the things he shouldn’t
He makes us laugh each day
Daily he empties all the cupboards
He’s only having a play

He dances to every beat
His skills are like his fathers 😉
He absolutely loves
Chilled out days in his pyjamas

He loves to eat
He loves to sing
He loves a great big cuddle

He’s so well know around the town
Our fluffy duck Milo

So happy birthday baby boy
We can’t tell you how proud we are, enjoy your weekend of celebration, you are our little star xxx

Made me well up reading it again, he hasn’t changed much lol, is parents never stop being proud of our babies x

I want to inspire my kids…

‘What if I fall, oh my darlin, what if you fly’ Dr Suess

I’m a mum, it’s my job, I love it and can’t imagine having any other job now that I have taken on this amazing roll. Every day I do my best to encourage and inspire them to one day be wonderfully well rounded adults… fingers crossed. I give them what life experiences I can offer, from independent skills of cooking and cleaning through to understanding the world of diversity in which we live. I have two girls and a boy who I don’t want to fear the independence and spontenaerty that life can offer, I dream for them to do anything and everything they want but maybe more so because I wished I had done a little more? If they choose not to, then I’m also happy but I feel I need to show them to go for your dreams, live life to the full and not to fear the unknown.

I would love to show them somehow through how I live that the possibilities in life are endless and that anything you wish to achieve, if you put your whole heart into it, you can.

So I am… I’m showing them that if I can face fears and fight for what I want to do… they can to!

A lesson in life that will, I hope bring only wonderful things to my three beautiful babies.

My challenge I have set is to trek a mountain, I don’t do excercise, don’t  do the unknown and don’t do feeling ill well (arghhh what am I doing!)… but I do love our gorgeous world, beautiful places, architecture, the landscapes carved out by nature, plus seeing the world through the eyes of others in a place built in times gone by.

Next year I’m taking on the trek the Inca people took over 550 years ago leading to Machu Pechu. It’s mainly to raise awareness for the charity British heart foundation  (thats a whole other post) but also I hope this challenge helps my children to see that giving up on something because it’s difficult doesn’t get you anywhere and that if you want to do something it is ‘mostly’ always possible. I’m so rocking the mantra of ‘mummy power’ as I start my training over the next year…. let the madness commence #bucketlist #mummypower

A Woodland Fairytale Party…

My daughters birthday party was yesterday and how beautiful it was, I asked the girls to wear fairy wings for a ‘woodland fairytale craft party’ we made fairy houses/ bird houses, magical wands, woodland animal key rings, decorated toadstool cup cakes and played games… during the party my daughters dreams came true as we used our wands and some fairy dust to do magic… two princesses appeared to join the party and play some games with the children. My daughter was over the moon with her party and now mummy is shattered lol but the fun doesn’t stop as my little mans party is coming up soon…. let the planning commence, again!

Helping others

one lesson I have always tried to give my children is to help others. Not only in day to day life but also through charity work. I am a keen fundraiser and have done many things over the years from volunteering at charity events to running big charity nights myself. I love every minute of doing this as I know that the charity I am aiming to help is always one close to my heart.

I am pleased to say my children appear to have inherited this same bug and already ask to do thing and join in with things that are happening in and around our local community. This makes me super proud and equally a little excited that one day I will be able to pass my folders over and let them continue whilst I take a back seat (errr or just help with as much as they let me lol)

A few months ago the girls saw an advert for Macmillan coffee mornings and quickly piped up can we do that again this year. Without hesitation I picked up the tablet and helped them order a pack. The date was chosen and friends were invited. The girls helped with baking, decorating, tidying the house and making a little book stall. From one simple afternoon of cake and lemonade they managed to make over £200. They soon lost interest in selling and went to eat cake and play with friends whilst adults ate but the inner fundraiser is still there and I am so proud.

Seeing my home full of wonderful friends and family always makes me smile but today it was for a wonderful charity so I felt even happier.

Thank you so much all who came xxx