How To Throw A Cheap Fun Halloween Party For Children!

So it's October now and the spookiest time of year is fast approaching.... Halloween!
You're thinking of throwing a party for your little monsters? and why not ?!
Have a look at what we got up to Halloween 2012!

I wanted to throw the kiddies and a couple of their friends a little party but of course Halloween fell on a skint week so I improvised!

Decorations you can grab cheap enough in most pound stores but if that isn't feasible then make them.
My table cover I made using some black sacks and the kiddies red paint.
For the food I made sandwiches and cut them into coffin shapes and used a little food colouring to paint words/crosses onto them, the boiled eggs again I used food colouring to make them into evil eyes.
I made red jelly with sweets inside, I decorated chocolate wrappers with the word boo. I done vampires fangs with blood dip aka chicken dippers with ketchup, as well as a few other nibbles I had in so I didn't actually buy anything apart from the jelly which cost a couple of pound for a few packs.

So every children's party needs games right?!, again I improvised as it were I had a few toy plastic spiders so I used them as mini prizes along with sweeties, We played games such as guess what's in the box... this was fun and got lots of frights! I made some simple salt dough and rolled it out and bunched it up on a plate like intestines, I added some washable red paint and placed it in a box and covered the box leaving just a slit for the children to put their hand through and feel.

The kiddies and I made a piñata the week before using just a balloon tissue paper and paste made from plain flour and water, we decorated it using paint. I had all the children come outside and we had a competition who could find the best stick to hit the piñata with, Next the children beat it and all the sweets fell out!

Another fun game was to fill a bowl with jelly but have sweets inside like jelly worms, eyeballs, jelly brains ect, place a lolly stick upwards in it and get the children to try remove the lolly using just their mouths, And of course apple bobbing!

And of course no party is complete without some music to throw some shapes to.

HERE is the particular playlist we used!

I found this article recently and so will be trying some of these this year HALLOWEEN PARTY FOOD

So what will you and your little monsters be doing this Halloween and what are they dressing up as?

Whatever you do have a Spooktacular time!

A lovely Autumn walk!

You know the drill it's cold drab and raining outside but you have to go run an errand!
You really don't want to go out in it with 4 children in tow but know you have to so what do you do?

That's it pull on your wellies and go splashing!

That's exactly what we done on Saturday, And I must say we had such fun seeing who could find the biggest puddles to splash in, We collected some conkers, we were even a little naughty kid's were jumping in one particular puddle wasn't till after I realised they'd 'decorated' a car parked nearby with pretty brown splashes!..... Whoops sorry!

Just hearing the kiddies giggling away without a care in the world was music to my ears, who cares if they got wet, we had towels and hot chocolate waiting for us at home, who cares if it took us double the amount of time to do the trip, we were making memories!

On the way home we took a different route cutting through the nature reserve we stopped to say hello to the ducks, but little man woke up and he was letting me know 'Mum it's bottle time' so we headed back.

When we got home we had a good giggle about the fun we had whilst drying off.

so next time it's raining out don't just sit indoors thinking what shall we do? Pull on your wellies and get splashing, see what fun you too can have.

Little Mr D Starts Stay And Play.

So now my lil Mr D is cruising furniture and into everything I decided to start taking him stay & play!

Having not really been around many babies before he was a little dubious at first when I put him down and he just sat near the door, watching, sussing everyone out.

I let him have this time then before I knew it he was off exploring the toys.

He had a great sensory afternoon first eating the dough of the bread roll's they were making, next he thought he'd taste the paint whilst doing Daddy a picture. Thank god for toxic free and it couldn't have tasted that good... Right?!

Next he tried the shaving foam play table, He wasn't impressed with this at all. As for snack and singing/story time he refused to take part instead eating his snack of toast and grapes in his pushchair, then playing in the home corner at song time.

He was rather nervous kept coming to me for reassurance but I held back much as I could to let him get used to it, And by the next week he was.

We went the following week and made a beeline for the gluing table he made a lovely Autumn picture of a leaf which now has pride of place on our fridge.

He even sat at the table for snack time of Ritz biscuits with cheese and raisins!

He wasn't so willing at song time, That is until they began singing his favourite song of twinkle twinkle, then boy did he dart over big grin on his face. He even joined in with 5 little monkeys by holding the sheet and shaking it as a group. He really enjoyed it.

Unfortunately this week we've had to miss as he's been unwell with viral infection and ear infection but we will definitely be going back.

So what age did YOU begin taking your little one to stay and play or such like? Did they enjoy it off the hook or were they a little dubious to begin with?

Residential School Trip To Hill End

My little pickle all grown up!

Last week our lil Mr K went on his first residential trip with the school!

He went from the Wednesday till the Friday to a place called Hill End.

It wasn't a decision we made lightly to allow him to go as we felt he was so young at 7, But that said after much discussion between my hubby and I and the school we felt we would let him go, As it'll build his independence and how much fun he'd have.

And it definitely wasn't an easy 3 days 2 nights, I cried as the coach pulled off, And I cried as I saw him step of the coach and I scooped him up for a hug.

But he really did have so much fun climbing hill's, climbing tree's, making camp fires and roasting marshmallows around it whilst singing song's, He was rather impressed that he got have toast, cereals and fry up all on the same morning as this is something we only tend to be able to do when on holidays as with 4 little's we just don't have the time!

He loved jumping in muddy puddles and really enjoyed himself.

He needed a good bath when he got home and he fell asleep at 4:30 but he really had fun so I'm glad we bit the bullet and let him go... next time is LIl Miss L goes on a residential soon.

So what age did or would you allow your little one to go on a residential trip with the school?

Rag Heroes Here's To A New Chapter!

Rag Heroes Parents Group

Come And Get Stuck In!

What is Rag Heroes?

Rag Heroes was ultimately a business set up by a lovely lady named Maria Albertsen  and has won various awards such as 

Pitch2Rich (Sir Richard Branson) 2012, second place, watch here: (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8a_OfcANe0) #thepitch80- quarter finalist. MumpreneurUK finalist - Best Start Up Business. MumsClub - Top 100 Women in Business, 2013. Maria Albertsen (Founder) - Finalist in the UK Inspiration Awards for Women, 2013.

Rag Heroes are gorgeous handmade rag dolls suitable for boys to play with as well as girls.

Here is Rag Heroes Mission...

OUR MISSION: To develop a range of products that enable children to express and nurture their emotions, increasing self-esteem, confidence and well being.

At RagHeroes we want to challenge the concept that little boys should not play with dolls. In fact, we actively encourage it and so we decided to make our own unique range! Of course, we love to see little girls playing with our dolls too!

We developed a range for boys as we believe that little boys should have a means to express and nurture their caring side and we believe our dolls promote this!

So Just What Is Changing?

Well quite a lot in fact firstly and sadly Rag Hero dolls will cease to be made any more.... I know such a shame! But you can WIN one as well as a clean 9 body cleanse. But we'll come back to that in a bit.

So What Else Is Going on At Rag Heroes?

Well there is now a Rag Heroes Parents Group which focus's on various aspects of children's emotional and physical well being,

There will be competitions like the one I mentioned previously which will be drawn when the group reaches 500 members, Promotions, and Special offers.
The group can be found HERE

Also Maria's talented son's have created a series of books that will be published and they are looking for parent reviewers so do keep an eye on this.

Also up for grabs is a £10 Amazon voucher each month for blog post's regarding various parenting aspects so lots to get stuck into.

But right now we're aiming for those 500 members so do get stuck in and one lucky member will be winning not only the last ever Rag Hero but also a Clean 9 body cleanse for Mum or Dad,

So with that what are you waiting for?

Pop on over and say hi, We look forward to meeting you!

School Expenses And How To Manage Them?!

Aah the new school term begins and so too do the letter's home couple of pound here for this couple of pound there for that,
it's pretty common right!

But just how do you juggle all the costs as well as running a household of 6 as well as bills ect it can very easily get crazy.

Thankfully up until now where we lived in London they didn't d a lot of school trips but those they did tended to be free or cheap enough for those you had to pay for so that was fine.

Now we've moved and already we have two residential trips coming up in the next couple weeks.
Firstly I'm nervous as they've never been on a residential trip their only time being away from myself and hubby is with Nanny and Grandad and even then I'm calling morning and night despite knowing they are safe.

so my 7 year old is off first to a place where he will sleep in dormitories, do lots of walking/hill climbing which should be fun given he cannot take his wheelchair there. they will be learning outdoors, making camp fires and toasting marshmallows for 2 days. to say I'm dreading it is an understatement he still seems so young but after a lot of consideration and extensive conversations between my hubby and I we decided that it would benefit him in not only cementing friendships but it will give him a sense of independence, and show him we have trust in him to be a well behaved boy.
he is mega excited and cant wait, and at £30 for 3 days 2 night's with accommodation and food we felt it was good for him.

Next comes the letter for lil Miss L, again 3 days 2 nights at a activity centre where she will take part in abseiling,rock climbing, zip wires, to name a few, she will also be sleeping in dormitories and building camp fires ect,
One slight difference with this trip though it's £100 of course it's got more activities so understandable but here's my query, how can school charge us £100 when the centre's website says for a 3 day 2 night course it's £23! slight price difference there!

But that said how much fun will they both have?!
To be honest I will likely be the saddo mum wiping a tear as I wave them off on the coach and will be so sad when i don't get to tuck them in at night.
Also I'm now waiting for Mr J to come home with a letter for a trip which I'm sure he will so how much will that one be?

So what age doe you think is acceptable to go on a residential trip with school?
Do you feel they're beneficial to children? and if so why?
And how do you budget for these?

Ooh A New Hobby Maybe?!

So since moving here I have become friends with a lovely lady named Nadia Day who I feel I should give credit to for my new found skill as she taught me!

Book Folding!

What an artistic way to give old unused books a new purpose.

I am far from professional but i had fun making them and I love that they're unique in their own way and all handmade by myself!

My Mr J even had a go and it really is interesting so here's my take on book art.

not bad for first and second ever time huh?...... cmon be nice now!