Homemade Puddings

Homemade Puddings

It is important to get your children involved in cooking and prepping the dinner as this encourage them to eat what they have made but also teaches them important life skills.

Fruit Jelly!

We have kept plastic pots from store bought puddings, washed them out and get them ready for making jelly. We decided on fruit jellies today! Open a tin of fruit, we used peaches and divide between the pots, we have 10. Make up the jelly per the instructions and pour over the fruit. Allow it to cool, place in the fridge and enjoy all week long.

ASDA price sliced peaches in syrup - £0.31

Hartleys Orange Jelly (in the block) - £0.55

Total Spend £0.86 - £0.08 per portion. 

This was an activity that my 6 year old did by herself, with my supervision for the boiling water and the pouring.

💜❤️🤎💙🖤💚💛🤍🧡💜❤️🤎💙🖤💚💛🤍🧡💜❤️🤎💙🖤💚💛🤍🧡

Week 2 - Easy Budget Meals

 Week #2 - Easy Budget Meals

Welcome to another post with a few cheap and easy meals to help spread the budget and still have a filling meal for your family. I have broken down each meal into price per portions as well as the overall meal and will then total up what our even meals cost us for the week.

The number of portions I need each day varies, as my fiancé works shifts, so sometimes I feed him and sometimes I don't. Most meals are for 2 people, or cooked as a meal for 4 and give us a left over portion to freeze or use as an easy dinner in the week.

Day 1: McDonalds - 3 portions

Today was our treat day for the month! Due to the limited takeaways that were open on this particular day, we ended up with a McDonalds, which was very nice but also not exactly cheap. I did have a 20% off voucher however which made me feel a bit better about it 😂

We ordered, a Nugget Happy Meal, A chicken Sandwich Meal, A Large 20 Nugget Meal and extra 9 nuggets to share. 

Total meal £16.32 = £5.44 a portion. 

I must admit, it was an eye opener to see that this one meal, cost more than the total meal spend for Week 1.

❤️🧡💛💚💙💜🤎🤍🖤❤️🧡💛💚💙💜🤎🤍🖤❤️🧡💛💚💙💜🤎🤍🖤

Day 2: Meatball Bake - 3 Portions

I bought the "3 for £10" meat deal in ASDA, and then half those 3 packs to make it 6 meals worth, making them £1.60 each. 

12 meatballs - £1.60

1 onion - £0.20

1 Bell pepper - £0.31

Jar of ASDA Pasta Sauce - £0.70

Conchiglie (shells) pasta - 30p

Total meal £2.91 = £0.97 a portion. 

Method: Chop the onion and pepper and chuck into a pan, with a drizzle of oil, fry them off a little, I also added a sprinkle of mixed herbs and garlic granules. Add the meatballs and stir gradually till they are brown.  Place the pasta into another pan, add water and bring to the boil. Let it cook for about 10 mins, till soft. Drain and serve the pasta, and pour into a baking dish ( pyrex) placing the meatball mixture on top. Give it all a big mix and add some grated cheese on top. Into the oven for 20 mins / til crispy and golden.

❤️🧡💛💚💙💜🤎🤍🖤❤️🧡💛💚💙💜🤎🤍🖤❤️🧡💛💚💙💜🤎🤍🖤

Day 3: BBQ

We went to a BBQ on the beach with some friends, so we didnt spend anything on the food, but we did spend £5 on parking.

❤️🧡💛💚💙💜🤎🤍🖤❤️🧡💛💚💙💜🤎🤍🖤❤️🧡💛💚💙💜🤎🤍🖤

Day 4: Chicken Pie - 3 portions

I made a chicken casserole in the slow cooker as my filling for this pie. I served it with boiled poatoes and veg.

Casserole -  

3 chicken thighs - £1.70

1 onion - £0.20

1 bell pepper - £0.31 

Colmans Chicken Casserole sachet - £0.65

I cooked this in the slow cooker on high for 5-6 hours, with a tea towel under the lid to catch condensation and prevent it from being too watery.

ASDA Ready Roll shortcrust pastry - £1.00

4 potatoes - £0.40

Frozen beans - £0.20

Frozen carrots - £0.20

Total meal £4.66 = £1.55 a portion. 

❤️🧡💛💚💙💜🤎🤍🖤❤️🧡💛💚💙💜🤎🤍🖤❤️🧡💛💚💙💜🤎🤍🖤

Day 5: Slow Cooked Lasagne - 3 portions

A very easy and basic lasagne, simply because I didnt have much fresh veg left in the fridge. ASDA has changed their meat offer from 3 for £10 to 2 for £7, which I divided into 4 meals worth, making them £1.75 each

Mince 750g (beef/pork combo) - £1.75

Jar of  ASDA pasta sauce - £0.70

Jar of ASDA white sauce - £0.65

Total Meal £3.10 = £1.03 a portion.

Asda lasagne sheets are 70p for a box, and you pay use 1/3 or a 1.4 of a box depending on the size of your lasagne, ours were free however from my Mum who had them going spare in the cupboard.

Into a large bowl, break up the mince, add a sprinkle of garlic granules and mixed herbs and gravy granules from the cupboard. Add the jar of pasta sauce and mix well. Use approx half of this bowl to make the first layer in your slow cooker. Top with dried pasta sheets- you may need to break them up to fit the oval shape. then half the white sauce jar and do a layer. then repeat again with the meat, pasta sheets and white sauce. Top with grated cheese. Cook on high for 6 hours with a tea towel under the lid to stop condensation.

❤️🧡💛💚💙💜🤎🤍🖤❤️🧡💛💚💙💜🤎🤍🖤❤️🧡💛💚💙💜🤎🤍🖤

Day 6: Sausage, chips and Beans - 2 portions

Sausages are currently 2 packs for £4 in ASDA. As it turns out this meals isnt that cheap for 2 people, it could be eked out for 3 however with 2 sausages each rather than 3.

Sausages - £2

Chips - £0.20

Beans - £0.50

Hoops - £0.50

Total Meal - £3.20 = £1.60 a portion

❤️🧡💛💚💙💜🤎🤍🖤❤️🧡💛💚💙💜🤎🤍🖤❤️🧡💛💚💙💜🤎🤍🖤

Day 7: Pizza - 2 portions

This is not the cheapest option, but it was easy. Our local Spar had 2 pizza for £5. We had a pizza each as I didn't do anything with them.

Total Meal - £5 = £2.50 a portion

❤️🧡💛💚💙💜🤎🤍🖤❤️🧡💛💚💙💜🤎🤍🖤❤️🧡💛💚💙💜🤎🤍🖤

This week was an expensive one in comparison to Week 1, mostly due to my own laziness with the McDonalds and the overpriced Pizzas from Spar. My homemade chicken pie worked out as one of the most  expensive meals coming in at £4.66.

Total Week - £35.19 for 16 portions.

That total spend is more than double last week, and solely because we had Mcdonalds, which in itself cost more than the whole of Week 1. I must do better for week 3.

Week 1 - Budget Meals

Week #1 - Easy Budget Meals

Welcome to my post with a few cheap and easy meals to help spread the budget and still have a filling meal for your family. I have broken down each meal into price per portions as well as the overall meal and will then total up what our even meals cost us for the week.

The number of portions I need each day varies, as my fiancé works shifts, so sometimes I feed him and sometimes I don't. Most meals are for 2 people, or cooked as a meal for 4 and give us a left over portion to freeze or use as an easy dinner in the week.

Day 1: Jacket Potato - 2 Portions

I am aware that this method is not the cheapest way of doing jacket potatoes, but I find it the easiest, ( I will be experimenting with a slow cooker method soon). I get the McCain Frozen Jacket Potato,  They stay in the freezer, you take it out when you need it and pop it in the microwave for 5 mins, the bag is 8 potatoes for £4.30. Making them 53p each. 

2 Jacket Potatoes - £1.06

Small Heinz Hoops - £0.50

Small Heinz Beans - £0.60

Total meal £2.16 = £1.08 a portion. 

Method: Place the frozen potatoes in a bowl, and follow the instructions - in our case, 2 potatoes means 8 minutes in the microwave. Once they are done, pop your beans into a bowl and put that in the microwave for 1 minute, then repeat with the hoops. Open up your potatoes, add some butter if you wish, then pour the beans / hoops over the top. I then finished it off with some grated cheese. 

❤️🧡💛💚💙💜🤎🤍🖤❤️🧡💛💚💙💜🤎🤍🖤❤️🧡💛💚💙💜🤎🤍🖤

Day 2: Spaghetti with Meatballs - 4 portions. 

I bought the "3 for £10" meat deal in ASDA, and then half those 3 packs to make it 6 meals worth, making them £1.60 each. Tonight, I am just feeding 2 of us, so 2 of these portions will be put aside for another day.

12 meatballs - £1.60

1 onion - £0.20

1 Bell pepper - £0.31

Jar of ASDA Pasta Sauce - £0.70

1/3 of Spaghetti - £0.23

Total meal £3.09 = £0.77 a portion. 

Method: Chop the onion and red pepper and chuck into a pan, with a drizzle of oil, fry them off a little, I also added a sprinkle of mixed herbs and garlic granules. Add the meatballs and stir gradually till they are brown.  Place the Spaghetti into another pan, add water and bring to the boil. Let it cook for about 10 mins, till soft. Meanwhile back to the meatball pan, add the jar of sauce and a sprinkle of gravy granules from the cupboard for a bit of extra flavour. Stir this though and once you are happy with the spaghetti, turn off the heat. Drain and serve the spaghetti, placing the meatball mixture on top. Finish off with some grated cheese on top.

❤️🧡💛💚💙💜🤎🤍🖤❤️🧡💛💚💙💜🤎🤍🖤❤️🧡💛💚💙💜🤎🤍🖤

Day 3: Chicken Nuggets and Chips - 2 Portions

Nice and easy, lazy dinner today! The nuggets are ASDA 38 battered nuggets for £2, making the 5p each. The chips are ASDA french fries, 1.5kg bag for £1.35. The onion rings are ASDA own too, a bag for £1.

14 chicken nuggets - 70p

3 handfulls of chips - 10p

A handfull of onion rings - 15p

Total meal £0.95 = £0.47 a portion. 

Method: Whack it all in the oven for 30 mins and serve with your favourite sauce! :)

❤️🧡💛💚💙💜🤎🤍🖤❤️🧡💛💚💙💜🤎🤍🖤❤️🧡💛💚💙💜🤎🤍🖤

Day 4: Leftovers

We had my daughters birthday party today, so were out most of the day with a buffet lunch included in the party cost. In the evening my daughter had leftover sandwiches from the buffet, and i had a leftover portion of the Spaghetti / Meatballs from Day 2.

❤️🧡💛💚💙💜🤎🤍🖤❤️🧡💛💚💙💜🤎🤍🖤❤️🧡💛💚💙💜🤎🤍🖤

Day 5: Hunters Chicken Loaded Chips - 3 Portions

The chicken thighs are a pack of 9 thighs for £5.09 which I have divided into 3 meals of 3 thighs, at £1.70 each.

3 chicken thighs - 1.70

Pile of chips - 30p

ASDA hunters sauce  - £1.15

Handfull of carrots -20p

Total meal £3.35  = £1.12 a portion. 

Method: I cooked the chicken in the slow cooker, but you could do it in the oven in 30-45 mins in a pyrex. I did a layer of Hunters sauce, then the chicken thighs, then the remainder of the sauce. Cooked it on low for approx 5 hours and then on high for the last 30 mins. I cooked the chips in the oven for 30 mins. Served in a bowl, grated the cheese and returned to the oven for a few mins to melt it, then added the chicken to the side. Oh, I added a few carrots as i was feeling guilty that we havent had much veg this week :) 

❤️🧡💛💚💙💜🤎🤍🖤❤️🧡💛💚💙💜🤎🤍🖤❤️🧡💛💚💙💜🤎🤍🖤

Day 6: Pork Chops - 2 Portions

I bought the "3 for £10" meat deal in ASDA, and usually half each pack, but with the chops I divide the 6 chops into 3 meal of 2 chops, making them £1.10 each. These 2 portions were for myself and my fiance, my daughter had the remaining left overs from Day 2.

2 Pork Chops - £1.10

2 handfulls Frozen Carrots - 20p

2 handfulls Frozen Green Beans - 20p

4 potatoes  -40p

Total meal £1.90  = £0.95 a portion. 

I was too eager to eat my dinner, so forgot to take a photo - sorry!

❤️🧡💛💚💙💜🤎🤍🖤❤️🧡💛💚💙💜🤎🤍🖤❤️🧡💛💚💙💜🤎🤍🖤

Day 7: Birthday Pizza - 3 Portions

As it is my daughters birthday, and she has chosen pizza for dinner, I have bought a selection of Frozen pizzas from ASDA, as we certainly can not afford a takeaway.

Although we have extra people coming for pizza today, for the sake of this blog, I will post pricing for 2 pizzas, which we would normally share with chips.

Pile of chips - 30p

Pizza - £2.60

Total meal £2.90  = £0.96 a portion. 

❤️🧡💛💚💙💜🤎🤍🖤❤️🧡💛💚💙💜🤎🤍🖤❤️🧡💛💚💙💜🤎🤍🖤

This week we have spent £14.35 on our main meals, creating 16 dinners.

I hope that his blog will help you with some meal ideas and budgeting. I look forward to seeing what I can come up with for next week :) 

Easing Lockdown

Day 69 - June 1st

Boris Johnson announced 4 days ago that the lockdown will ease a little from Monday (tomorrow) and we will be able to meet in an open space as a group of up to 6 people 👨‍👩‍👦👨‍👩‍👧 (not from same household). Social distancing must still be priority and we must still keep 2 metres away⛔️🧍🏻‍♀️➖🧍🏼‍♂️

Vulnerable people who have been shielding for the last 2 months can go outside from Monday 🎉

Face coverings are now recommended in all enclosed areas 😷to help protect you and others. They don’t have to be medical masks but just something to lessen any chance of catching or passing on germs. 🦠

The main message is still to keep washing your hands. 🤲🏼 It’s recommended you don’t wear 🧤gloves and use anti bacterial wipes, sanitizers or better still wash hands. 👏🏼

You are now allowed out of your homes to do shopping but also to exercise 🚴🏼‍♂️as much as you want now in an open space and currently with one other person from another household 🎾

Excel in East London (known as the NHS Nightingale 🏥), built in 9 days with the capability to care for up to 4000 patients hardly been used 🙏. If it had reached its capacity it would have been one of the largest hospitals in the world 🌎.

From Monday (June 1st) schools will be reopening 🏫for Nursery, Reception, Yr 1 & Y6 ages only. They will prioritise the key workers children & the vulnerable first. You will not be fined etc for not sending your child if you chose not too. High schools are due to open to year 10 & 12 two weeks later . For everyone else parents are home schooling 👩🏼‍🏫and teachers are doing remote learning using the internet. BBC bitesize also has been created to help teach children who don’t have work or want more help etc.

It was announced some non essential shops will open from 15th June but details are unclear. 💸 Lots of take aways are now open and some restaurants are offering takeaway services

This Thursday evening was the last stand clap 👏🏼👏🏼for the NHS staff, all standing united on our doorsteps, balconies and open windows applauding and cheering for all our amazingly brave👨‍🔬⛑ NHS staff who so courageously and selflessly battled on to try and save as many lives as possible ❤️

Live experiences are now available, to watch anything from a Live theatre performance🎭 , a visit to the zoo 🐘or an interesting chat in a museum 🦖

Petrol ⛽️ price close to home 🏡 is £100.7p per litre for unleaded/ £105.7p for diesel. 

The current statement from the government has changed from stay home ⛔️stay safe to Stay Alert, Stay Safe ☹️

We are working towards lowering the “R” curve and keeping that below 1. As long as we keep doing that then lock downs will ease. 〽️We are currently between 0.7 & 0.9

Tape on the floors at supermarkets & shops is a normal sight now 🏬 to help distance shoppers 🛒 from each other. Essential service workers & nhs staff are given priority in supermarkets at certain times.

Limited numbers of people were allowed inside shops, 🧍🏼‍♂️➖🧍🏼therefore, queuing outside the store doors is the norm, 2 meters apart 🏬

Businesses were told to continue to work from home unless unable to, then as long as the safety measures are in place, you may return to work 🚫

The Government is paying 80% of wages to all employees across the country who were furloughed due to Covid-19. 💷 furlough has been extended to October.

Airlines are still grounded ✈️ but any travel abroad must now be followed by a two weeks quarantine.

Air pollution has improved. Rivers cleaned up. City & traffic emissions reduced. ♻️

Parks are now open for exercise but playgrounds remain closed 🏃🏼‍♀️

Everyone has been advised not to use public transport 🚌unless there is no alternative and if you do use then you must wear a face covering😷. Also there will a maximum of 25 people allowed on a bus at one time.

Entire sports ⚽️ 🏉 🎾 seasons have paused.

Premier league Football ⚽️has just been announced to continue from 17th June. Golf⛳️ has already restarted but all of these will be conducted behind closed doors.

Olympics postponed to 2021. 🏆

Concerts 🎫 tours 🚌 festivals 🤹🏻 entertainment events 🎭 all cancelled and all theatres closed for the foreseeable future.

Weddings 👰🏼🤵🏻 family celebrations 🥳 holiday gatherings cancelled 👨‍👩‍👦‍👦.

Funerals ⚰️ are limited to 10 guests that are socially distanced so lots of funerals are now being shown over Zoom etc 🚫

The new way to chat with friends and families has been by using apps like Zoom & Teams 👩🏽‍💻🧑🏾‍💻as well as the usual what’s app and FaceTime. It has almost become the new “norm” to have a catch up with family via zoom, or have a quiz night with your mates!🎥

If you are fortunate to have a neighbour who is a Singer or in a band, 👩🏼‍🎤then you might be lucky enough to get some free entertainment live from their driveway or balcony 👂🏽

No masses are allowed as churches ⛪️ 🕌are still closed 🚫however again the use of modern technology is slowly creeping into this world and mass is now streamed on a Sunday.

Still a Shortage of masks 😷 gowns 🥼 gloves 🧤 for our front-line workers. Since the start of the coronavirus outbreak, over 1.48 billion items of PPE have been delivered to the health and social care system in England,

Shortage of ventilators for the critically ill 🤒 in many parts of the world. Formula 1 racing teams and Virgin Galactic designed and produced ventilators in the space of a week.

Panic buying 🛒 set in in those early days, but it seems that eggs and flour are the main things that people still struggle to get .🐥🍞🥚

Manufacturers, distilleries and other businesses 🏢 have switched to make visors, masks 😷 hand sanitizer🧴 and PPE 🧤

Fines have been established for breaking lockdown rules 🤑 and this has been done to break up many a house party

You are still not allowed to visit or stay anywhere other than your own home 🚷but you are allowed to drive now to an exercise place (like a bigger park area) 🚗🛣🌳🌳but they would prefer you to stay within 25 miles of your home 🚐 Public toilets aren’t open yet so they advise people to stay away from beaches ⛔️if you don’t live by one .

Press conferences are daily from the PM 👩🏻 and other government 🏛 officials. Daily updates on new cases, recoveries, and deaths ⚰️

Seeing People wearing masks 😷 and gloves outside 🧤has become “normal”

355,356 deaths globally so far from 28 May 2020. And 37,837 in the UK.😢

This is the Novel Coronavirus 🦠 (Covid-19) Pandemic, WHO declared March 11th, 2020.

We have so much we need to appreciate that we take for granted.

Be thankful. Be grateful 😌

Be kind to each other - love one another - support everyone 🥰

Stay Alert, stay safe. ❤️

A bad feeling

Day 15

Today we have a new highest record in the daily death toll 😭 786.

UK total 6,159.

💔We are seeing videos from patients inside hospitals, begging people to stay at home as to not catch Covid-19. 

💔We are receiving daily death tolls and counts of the number of people admitted to hospital with the desease. 

💔We have adverts or updates on the TV, radio and even Spotify, telling us to stay at home in order to save lives. 

💔We see news teams entering into ICU wards to get an understanding of the scale of this pandemic and how it is affecting patients and staff and the families left behind. 

💔We are seeing names and photos of the nurses, doctors and other "front line" staff that are dieing due to this illness simply because they were doing their job trying to save people.

Today we had the news that Prime Minister Boris Johnson is now in ICU struggling to get enough oxygen!

Should we make it through this, I very much doubt that life will be the same. We as a nation will have lost so much and had to give up so much, just in order to slow down this desease, never mind stop it.

Stay Home. Stay Safe. 

Summer's Birthday

Day 14

My bubba girl turned 4 yesterday!

I have no idea where that time has gone!

Despite being in lockdown, I think that she enjoyed her day. A few family members has posted their gifts and sent cards, so she was lucky enough to have a little pile of presents to open.

She had some "elsa" balloons (snowflakes) and some bunting. Mum managed to have the number 4 blown up at the corner shop! Yay! I was so grateful and happy after DPD had let me down on the helium canister. 

There was a wee incident with the balloon though... 

So...Here's what happened...

We walked the dog down to the lane, and Summer took her new birthday car for a spin, we took her helium balloon with us, tied to the spoiler.

Naturally, the ribbon came lose and up floated the balloon! Luckily a nearby tree caught it.... Time for Mummy to save the day!

I took a run up and scaled the hedge, got attacked by thorns and branches in the process, then had to climb the tree to reach the balloon!

I have a few scratches and scrapes and a rather muddy pair of jeans, but a rescued balloon and a happy birthday girl! 

Annoyingly the balloon popped on the way down! Never fear, we patched it up with tape and blew it up with air!

We had a video chat with the family, where we all sang Happy Birthday and Summer blew out the candles on her cake. 

Its a real shame that we couldn't be with our family as had been originally planned, but I am so thankful that at least Mum was with us and that Summer enjoyed her day. 

A reminder

Day 11

Today the UK has had its highest death toll within 24hrs (to date) by Covid19.

684

Giving us a total of 3,605. 

I saw a post on Facebook that I want to keep as a reminder in the many years to come. Something for me to look back at (should I survive this pandemic) and something to be shown to younger generations.

Just so I NEVER forget.....Friday 3 April 2020

Diesel price at Morrison’s was £1.10
School cancelled
GCSEs cancelled
A-Levels cancelled
Self-distancing measures on the rise.
Tape on the floors at shops to help distance shoppers (2m) from each other.
Limited number of people inside shops, therefore, lineups outside the doors.
Non-essential shops and businesses mandated closed.
Pubs, theatres, restaurants are closed.
Entire sports seasons cancelled.
Concerts, tours, festivals, entertainment events - cancelled.
Weddings, family celebrations, holiday gatherings - cancelled.
Churches are closed. Graveyards are shut. 
Don't socialise with anyone outside of your home.
Children's outdoor play parks are closed.
We are to distance from each other.
Shortage of masks, gowns, gloves for our front-line workers.
Shortage of ventilators for the critically ill.
Panic buying sets in and we have no toilet paper, no disinfecting supplies, no paper towel no laundry soap, no hand sanitiser.
Bread, pasta, flour, chicken and chopped tomatoes are sold out everywhere 
Shelves are bare.
Manufacturers, distilleries and other businesses switch their lines to help make visors, masks, hand sanitiser and PPE.
All non-essential travel banned.
Fines are established for breaking the rules. Police patrolling the streets.
Arenas open up for the overflow of Covid-19 patients.
Press conferences daily from the government. 
The government throws money at businesses to try to keep the economy from imploding.  Grants and loans. The government to pay 80% of employees wages where businesses cannot continue to do so.
Daily updates on new cases and deaths.
The dead are denied wakes or funerals and barely anyone is allowed at the graveside.
Barely anyone on the roads.
People wearing masks and gloves outside.
Essential key workers are terrified to go to work.
Medical field workers are afraid to go home to their families.

This is the Novel Coronavirus (Covid-19) Pandemic, declared March 11th, 2020.

Life is precious and not to take the things we dearly love for granted.

We have so much!
Be thankful. Be grateful.
Be kind to each other - love one another - support everyone.

Life is uncertain right now. 
Stay Home! Stay safe! 

Just keep sweeping

Day 4

Gravel and toddlers don't mix. 

It's a recipe for disaster, so with that in mind Mum started to sweep it up!

It is just as well that we can't go anywhere and have nothing else to do. So we did it, we swept the entire driveway, Summer included and she even scraped her knuckles on the gravel in the process... Hereby proving the danger!

I braved the infectious world outside by going to the local shop for some essential food items. I had to queue up outside, 2 meters apart from the next person. There was a member of staff at the door, allowing 4 people to be in the shop at any one time. As soon as someone left, you could go in. 

It felt eerie.

 Like I shouldn't be there.

 Like it was wrong. 

In the afternoon we took the dogs out, having our one daily exercise outside. It was another beautiful day! 

You can find the pictures on Instagram @amy.r.n

Sock Toss

Day 3

It was another glorious day!

Once again we found ourselves on the front steps.. Myself rather red raced from the day before. 🥵

We had a relaxing morning, just keeping each other in high spirits and Summer entertained. 

We played a game of Sock Toss, earning points depending on where the sock landed. Great fun!

We threw the ball endlessly for the dogs and Summer found some bits and bobs laying around.

Our exercise was a wonderdul 2 mile walk in the sun. Its technically "round the block", however the positioning of Mum's house, makes it a rather big block.

Find pictures on Instagram @ amy.r.n

😁 Day 3, survived! 

Sunny Afternoon in Lockdown

Day 1

We were fortunate enough to have some sunshine on the 1st day of our UK Lock down and so my mum decided to clean out her car!

We sat on the front steps on the driveway, soaking up the sun and naturally we drank lots of tea. I watched Mum hoover the car and then Summer joined in when it came to washing the outside.

I drew some circles on the floor which Summer had to jump in, making her way from one end of the driveway to the other without leaving the circles... She loved it so much that we ended up with 50!!

Our one form of daily exercise comes in the shape of dog walking, and I have made it my mission to take a photo everyday and share it to the social media world. Find it on Instagram at amy.r.n

Thanks to the lovely weather, our first taster of the lock down didn't seem too bad. 

Keeping Calm... And carrying on.

This is something that everyone struggles with from time to time, especially those with toddlers... And now thanks to the growing epidemic that is Covid-19, we find ourselves in a very stressful situation.

We, as parents are worried, stressed, concerned, tired, angry and upset. We want to protect our families from this evil disease, we want to do our best to help others, to make sure that we can pay the bills etc and we now have the task of home schooling our children too! 

They are with us, inside our homes, 24/7. . They are either old enough to understand and therefore feel similar to ourselves or are too young and are blissfully unaware...

My daughter will be 4 next week, so she is in the "blissfully unaware" category. She knows that there are germs outside and that's why we have to wash our hands and why the park is shut... But of course she doesn't fully comprehend the scale of the issue.

This makes life difficult at times, such as when I'm trying to watch the news and she's jumping around, or when she wants to go out and do something, but of course we can't because of the lock down. 

Thanks to the range of emotions listed above, I don't always have the energy or the positive attitude to play tea parties, my little ponies, build a den or play Lego. Sometimes I just want to curl into ball and pretend like everything is going to be alright... But I can't.

Life carries on. We need to keep calm, and we need to carry on. Summer needs me to be up and active and keep her occupied. We should have a bit of fun together, if nothing else, then to just be grateful that we still can...  when so many others have lost that opportunity to this disease.

I am going to post a few blogs of our activities, walks, dinners, whatever it is that we get up to during this lock down... Some days, it may not be very much, but that's okay! 

Please share with us what you have been doing, or how you are feeling.

Stay Home. Stay Safe. Stay Sane. 

Indoor Plants

I'm trying to gradually bring some nature into the house, using plants.

We have a spider plant in our hallway, but now that the Christmas cards have come down, I have an empty kitchen window sill.... Time for another plant!

Whilst wandering the local garden center, we came across some baby succulents. These are perfect as I don't need to worry about them as such!

Summer chose 3 succulents that she liked and with Nanna, she potted them, ready to go on our window sill. 

Gardening with your toddler is also fantastic for their development, gardening is a great physical development activity. Young children can practice locomotor skills, body management skills and object control skills while they move from one place to the other carrying tools, soil and water. 

Summer loves gardening and getting stuck in. I'm sure that she would spend all day in the garden with the mud and sticks if I'd let her. 

What indoor plants do you have? 

Thank you for stopping by. 

Have a great day! 

Garden Centers

Garden Centers are great places to take a toddler. 

Most of them now have aquariums, which keeps them entertained for 5 mins, especially if they also have small animals and reptiles. 

Summer loves to watch the hamsters, birds, tortoises and lizards in our local garden center.

We visited Dobbies earlier this week. They have a large Koi tank, and a feeding station. You need a pound point and you turn the handle (much like the 20p sweet machine) and are rewarded with a tub of fish food.

Summer thought that this was great fun as the fish came to the surface and splashed about. 

This particular Dobbies has recently opened their Little Seedlings Soft Play Area. It's £3.50 for a play session. We were there for about an hour and a half. They have a cafe inside too, which is lovely for us adults.

Its also nice for the tots to see plants and have a little explore. Summer loves to plant vegetables and get involved, so we are looking forward to spring! 

Thank you for stopping by. 

Have a great day! 

Jobs

Summer has a few jobs around the house. 

This is both to teach her to do certain things, to respect her home and also because I need a helping hand. 

Her regular jobs include:

❤️ bringing the washing basket into the kitchen 

💙 occasionally loading the clothes into the machine

💜 setting the table for dinner with mats and cutlery

💚 sweeping up any mess that she creates whilst eating dinner

💛 tidying her bedroom

At nursery they call this being a "helper" which is something that Summer received an award for last term.

When we go shopping, Summer uses the kids trolley, yes it can be a bit stressful to worry about her crashing into things, but generally she does very well. It allows her to be a part of the shopping trip and to help. She will ask what we need, and will put it in her trolley and at the end she will load it up on the conveyer belt. This is a skill that she need throughout her adult life, why not get her learning the ropes

I believe that it is important for her to 'do her bit' as it were, to help others and not necessarily expect a reward or treat for it, such as pocket money or a sweet, though the odd incentive never hurt anyone.

What jobs do your toddlers help with?

Thanks for stopping by!

Have a great day! 

Puzzles

Summer loves jigsaw puzzles!

I have recently found myself keeping any eye out for ones that are suitable for her age range.

Its a nice, calming activity that she can either do by herself or with me.

Puzzles are so great for toddlers as they  promote hand eye coordination, fine motor skills and problem solving.

We have recently ordered some Usborne jigsaw puzzles, that come with a book of activities.
 I can't wait to show you them!

If you'd like to get your hands on one please visit Kate's Next Chapter at https://org.usbornebooksathome.co.uk/kates_nextchapter/catalogue/catalogue.aspx?cat=1&series=1735

Thank you for stopping by. 

Enjoy the rest of your day! 

Getting Involved

I like to get Summer involved in cooking and baking.
Yes, it can be a bit messy and take longer than doing it yourself but she enjoys it, and it helps us to spend some time together.

So far this week Summer has helped me to make Apple Crumble, where she stirred the apples and poured in the Cinnamon and Chicken Pasta, where she tipped in the chopped items, tinned tomatoes and stirred the pan. It was also her job to find the pasta and pour it into the saucepan.

Getting your toddler involved in cooking helps them to develop fine motor skills, eye hand coordination, and even early concepts of maths if they are measuring or counting.

I'd love to see what you and your little ones have created!

Thank you so much for stopping by.
Have a great day. 

Keeping my promise

So like a lot of parents, I use bribery!

Summer was told that if she goes to bed nicely, without kicking off, then she could go to her 1st gymnastics lessons in the morning. 

She upheld her part of deal, and so now it was my turn. 

We drove 25mins to the gymnastics centre, to find that over the new year, they changed their timetable and didn't think to inform anyone that had enquired. 

So, there I am with a bubba girl excited to do gymnastics and no lesson for her... Thinking on my feet I told her that I had a job to do in town (5 mins away), so once we have done that, we shall find something else to do.

The car park for town is next to the bowling alley, which Summer noticed and asked if we could do that instead. I agreed, that after our job in town, we could go bowling. 

...1 hour later, they were closed!

Now I have let her down twice in the same morning! So turned to Google for some local kids activities... The results were disappointing. 

In the end, we drove 30 mins to Truro to have a game of bowling, as promised. 

Note to self ... Check everything before bribing the bubba! 

Total Spend: £10.75

Adult Bowling : £6.00

Child Bowling : £4.75

Thank you for stopping by. 

Have a great day. 

Klodsmajor!

We love board games, but finding games that Summer can also play can be a bit tricky.

That is where Klodsmajor comes in! 

It is effectively Jenga, but with a dice. 

You roll the dice and it tells you which colour you need to remove from the tower. 

This game is great for Summer as it teaches her a number of things:

♦️ recognising colours

❤️ taking turns

💋 fine motor skills

🍎 that winning is not everything

It's also a rather short game when playing with a toddler so you can squeeze it in before bed or just before you start on dinner. 

Summer is a bit obsessed with playing it lately, but it's great to be spending some quality time with her! 

Thank you for stopping by. 

Have a great day! 

First Pet

Ever had an impulse buy?!

Well I had one on Thursday... 

Meet Iggy the Syrian Hamster! 

Whilst on an outing to Curry's PC World, of all places, Summer naturally became bored of waiting for Grandad to finish his TV purchase and to save myself from going all Hulk on the fact she wouldn't keep her bum on the damn chair, I took her next door to Pets At Home... 

Well that was where she fell into fit's of giggles watching a Hamster carrying a piece of carrot around and burying it in various places. Her laugh was infectious and before I knew it, I had agreed to take him home! 

He is very cute and I hope that she will learn some responsibility when it comes to feeding him and cleaning the cage etc. 

No doubt you will hear more about Iggy in future posts! 

Spend

Hamster: £10.00

Bedding: £3.99

Harry Muesli: £1.99

Woodshavings: £3.49

Wirehome: £25.00

Total Spend: £44.47

Thank you for stopping by. 

Enjoy the rest of your day! 

Day Out: Eden Project

Before our family split, we bought the Eden Project Annual pass and it occurred to me that we haven't used it since...

 What am I thinking...

 I should use and abuse the free access whilst we have it, so that is what we did last weekend!

We made ourselves a packed lunch, jumped in the car and set off on an adventure. 

The Annual pass gives the member (me) free entry along with a guest (my sister, Aka Auntie Mima). Summer is currently free as she is under 5.

Our first visit was to the Mediterranean Biome, followed by the (far superior - in my opinion) Rainforest Biome. 

Summer enjoyed walking through the "jungle" and spotting the ants and birds doing their thing. 

On our way back to the Visitors Centre we noticed the temporary Ice Rink, my first thought was How much are they going to rip me off for that? So I was pleasantly surprised to see it was only £7 per adult and £5 per child for a 40 min session, or £5 per adult and £4 per child for members!! 

We couldn't turn this down. 

Summer had never been ice skating before so we jumped at the chance and had a fantastic time. 

I would highly recommend taking a look at The Eden Project and the Special Events that they put on. 

Total Spend: £14

Thanks again for stopping by and have a great day!