Sowing Seeds

We've grown vegetables before in our back garden using tubs and grow bags. We've had success with runner beans, courgettes, tomatoes, potatoes and really tiny carrots. We haven't grown anything for a few years mainly because we didn't get time to sow everything. This week though we've bought a few bags with seeds in at a bargain price from B&M at 50p a bag, normally £2.99.

Today we decided to sow them and we'll keep them indoors whilst it's still a bit chilly outside to give them a chance at growing.

Inside each bag you get 3 plastic plant pots, a bag of soil and a packet of seeds which varies in quantity depending on which vegetable you buy.

We bought cabbage, courgettes and 2 types of tomatoes.

Here are the Gardener's Delight Tomatoes before we topped them with soil.

Here are the Black Beauty Courgettes before topping them with soil. We bought 2 bags of these as we love courgettes.

Here is the January King Cabbage before we topped them with soil. We've not grown cabbages before so we're not sure how easy these are going to be.

Here are the Roma Tomatoes before topping them with soil.

These were incredibly easy to sow although little sticks in each bag so we could label the pots would have been nice so we're having to keep the seed packets with the pots until we buy some sticks to label them with. Now we hope that we get some veggies from them. We're contemplating buying strawberry plants which I've always wanted as strawberries are so expensive to buy and it's something healthy for the children to eat.

I'm hoping I'll get to do a follow up blog entry about these in a few weeks when we, fingers crossed, get to transfer them to grow bags in the back garden.

I've Caught the Bug............

................ the reading bug.

I admit, and this isn't a great thing to admit to, that since leaving school in 1998 I'd not read a book until January 2011. I've never really been a big book fan and always saw them as taking time away from doing other things. Maybe it was just my age or simply I just hadn't found a book to get me to want to read more.

In January 2011 I picked up Cerys' Twilight books as she was taking forever to read them and I wanted to see what the fuss was about them. I was told they were far better than the movies and were worth reading. Well they got me hooked on books. I loved the story ad yes they are better than the movies.

I read them far too much and eventually got a little bored of them and wasn't sure what to move onto when I came across a post on a Twilight facebook fan page about Fifty Shades of Grey and that it was from Twilight fan fiction. I wasn't sure if I wanted to try it but thought hey why not give it a try any way.

I found a trilogy that I loved and has introduced me to a world of books I love. Yes some may say they are filthy books but I enjoy reading them.

Since April 2012 I've read quite a few books including;

Fifty Shades of Grey

Fifty Shades Darker

Fifty Shades Freed

Anything But Vanilla

Kinky

Fantasy Lover

Destined to Play

Destined to Feel

Destined to Fly

Bared To You

Reflected In You

Legacy Of The Witch

In Too Deep

On Dublin Street

I love that I've found something that can take me off in to a different world even if it's for only half an hour or keeps me up late because I simply can't bring myself to put the book down.

I'm looking forward to Entwined With You coming out June 4th and I've heard it's not the last in the Crossfire series.

I Can't Believe It!

I don't quite understand how but Gwen has gotten to the age where she's been accepted at primary school! Where has my little baby girl gone and how on earth has she grown up so fast?!

We received the email today confirming she's been offered a place at our chosen school, Harvey, Archie and Jorja go there.

So now starts the fun of finding uniform to fit her. She's not tiny but she's not long moved in to 3-4 size clothing so not sure if the small uniform we have is going to fit.

She seems excited and we know she loves being around other children but not so much when it comes to adults but she does come out of her shell after an hour or so in an adults company.

My big girl

Easter 2013

It's still the Easter holidays for us with a week to go until the children go back to school.

We've had a quiet week staying in, the weather hasn't really allowed us to do much with the rain and the snow trying fall and it being bitterly cold.

We held a mini egg hunt in the back garden but it started snowing whilst out there so we had to rush the children to find their remaining eggs as everyone was shivering.

I had fun making Easter baskets with Jorja who got carried away with glitter glue and had to wipe it up as it was dripping all over the place.

The children enjoyed having chocolate although I must admit they didn't have a lot this year and it's been nice that we haven't had any of them complaining of feeling sick from eating too much.

We also had a rather yummy Easter cake from Asda which was polished off in minutes by us all.

 A few of the children also made Easter cards at school to bring home. Harvey made his at home, he's always drawing or glueing or making something.

Jorja's card

Aarchie's card

Harvey's card

Last but by no means least is the huge egg that Darren gave me for Easter. I'm still eating it so it's lasted.

We're hoping the weather will improve soon so we can take the children out next week if only for a trip around town and to a park for some fun.

Made By Amber - Review

In September last year I had a panic. I wanted to get Kellan a custom made nappy for his first birthday and I was close to leaving it too late. Some WAHM's  (work at home mums) have long waiting lists for customs or take a good 3-4 weeks for a custom to be made. I had a design in mind but it wasn't an easy design. I went on a search via Facebook on WAHM nappy pages messaging them asking them if they could help. I had a couple say the design was too difficult or their waiting lists for a custom were full and I started loosing hope. That's when Made By Amber messaged me back and came to the rescue.

I'd sent an image I wanted a rough recreation of this was the image;

Those in the know will know this is a Creeper from the game Minecraft.

Now I'd seen that Amber had made patchwork nappies in the past and she said she'd have a go at it the best she could. So Amber got to work and I waited not knowing how it'd turn out or if it would be possible but Amber surprised me.

The finished Creeper nappy

 Back

Front

Amber had got the design spot on. I was over the moon and couldn't wait for Kellan's birthday so he could wear it.

Getting a custom with Amber was great. Her prices aren't over the top and she slotted me in which I will be forever thankful for as I know how busy custom lists are. She made the nappy in 2 weeks which I wasn't expecting either and that meant all that rushing about and worry that I'd left it too late was not needed and the nappy got here in plenty of time for Kellan's birthday. Amber was always easy to get hold of and easy to talk to. She was lovely to work with.

The nappy is made from minky and is so soft and fluffy. The fit is brilliant on Kellan and he has plenty of growing room left too which is excellent so he gets loads of wear from it.

If you are looking for a custom made nappy then Made By Amber is definitely a place to check out. Here's her Facebook page - Made By Amber and her website - madebyamber.co.uk

FuzziBunz - Elite Review

I've used one size FuzziBunz nappies before but the old style which had microfiber inserts. These were an ok nappy but didn't fill me with confidence to use them more regularly.

FuzziBunz Elite

The FuzziBunz Elite is the new improved one size nappy. The inserts are now made from minky, the elastics for changing the nappy size are better hidden so don't come into contact with baby's skin and the sizing is slightly bigger.

When Kellan tested these he was in the medium setting, he's now in the large setting at 14 months old. The larger sizing makes the Elite a lot easier to put on as the old style were smaller and trying to get a small fitting nappy on a wriggly baby is no easy feat. There are more poppers so more room to adjust the fit around the waist and/or the legs. This was great for Kellan as he doesn't have the chunkiest of thighs which really proved a problem for us with a lot of nappy brands. The leg fit was brilliant and even though Kellan's waist was wide the leg fit didn't suffer which was a huge plus for us.

The minky inserts were great. They dried very fast in fact they are always the first inserts dry after a wash which is brilliant if you don't have a tumble drier. They also haven't stained which is brilliant, Kellan's poo could stain anything but these cope remarkably. They are pretty easy to stuff into the pocket too. The old style inserts I found were a difficult fit which was another reason I didn't use our old FuzziBunz so much. They are a smaller insert but if you get the minky the right way round they just glide in the pocket when pushed in.

They contained Kellan's nappy contents well except when he was sat in his pushchair. We had an incident at the park where he was sat in the seat and he did a rather loud sounding poo and we had back and leg leakage. We had to rush home to change him as I'd stupidly forgotten wipes so couldn't change him. That was our only leakage with the Elite and I've learnt to not use them when he's going in the pushchair. When around the house and he's not putting pressure on the Elite he can last a good 3-4 hours which is great as he wee's for Britain. We wouldn't be able to go overnight in the Elite but its a great day nappy.

To change the size of the nappy from small-medium-large you undo the elastic in the pocket at the back waist and the legs by undoing the buttons and moving them to the right number for the size. I didn't get a size guide with my Elites so looked it up on the FuzziBunz website. It's a simple process and less fiddly than the old style nappy which meant untucking elastic from a slit in the inner fabric and adjusting via the button and trying to tuck the elastic back in.

The Elites come in a large range of colours and there are Diaper Talk Elites which we have two of and adore. You also get a spare set of elastics with each nappy and we've not had a need to use ours yet so they are kept in our bits and bobs box just in case.

Kellan in a FuzziBunz Elite Diaper Talk

 

Kellan in a FuzziBunz Elite

In conclusion the Elite is a great nappy if your little one has small thighs. If you don't own a tumble drier then it's the perfect nappy for you as it'll dry fast indoors. I wouldn't suggest them as the only nappy in your stash but they are great for during the day when at home. I do find that we get red marks on the waist and legs after Kellan has worn one which could mean I need to change the sizing but they are a smaller fitting nappy than most one size nappies. They are very adjustable and can be hard to get on a wriggly baby but I think that's the case with a lot of poppered nappies. These are worth trying out.

It's December and we all know what that means

So December has come around again, may I add rather too fast, so the time came to get up in the loft and drag down, hubby did it not me, boxes upon boxes of decorations, Christmas cutlery and china and of course the Christmas tree.

Usually we have our tree and decorations up November the 1st but last year was delayed due to Kellan's arrival and this year I've been dreading it as Kellan will be all over the tree and one of our cats loves to dismantle and pull the tree over.

The kids were dying for every thing to put up so we had a mass clear up, shifted furniture around until every thing fit and put the tree up and the wall and ceiling decorations.

Here's our tree which is silver and purple

I'm on the look out for decorations to personalize for Jorja and Kellan as we haven't gotten around to buying/making them a first Christmas ornament.