I need to lay down...

...We bought a new car today! Granted it was a much needed new car and a necessity, but even so it's a lot of pennies in one hit!

I  love the fact that our frugal lifestyle means we could buy it then and there without needing a loan or finance (shudder).

We have been researching cars for a month or two so we knew exactly the make, model and price we wanted. My brother works in the car industry and was a willing advisor on all things auto.

so when he came across the perfect car for us we snapped it up.

Days like today make all our frugalling totally worth it!

X x x

Free fruit crumble

We have been having a quiet day of recovery after all of yesterday's walking. We watched The Gruffalo film again with breakfast and the girls just wanted to play on their kindles or watch cartoons.

By 11 o'clock though they started becoming restless so we headed to the park for ten minutes.

While we were there I had a quick check on the plum trees to find the first crop of mirabelles ready to pick. With the girls help we sooned pick a few bags full and loaded up Gmans pram.

After lunch the two smallest took a nap and DD and I made two huge plum and blackberry crumbles.

One will see us through a few days and the other is in portions in the freezer.

Tomorrow after the errands are run I am hoping to make a nice batch of plum jam.

X x x

The New Forest Show

So this week's big trip out didn't really fit in with the Gruffalo theme. We did look for him when driving through the "deep dark wood" but that was it.

The show this year is fantastic!

We have sampled foods I've never even heard off, watched beekeepers in action, seen the biggest cabbage in the world (!), watched horse parades and show jumping.

Flirted with people  dressed as eggs, sat in tractors, been buried under piles of freebies, met many many interesting people and collapsed in a heap when we got home.

X x x

Gruffalo week - Day 2

 Today's weather has been abysmal. In an attempt to stop the girls getting cabin fever, we busted out our main gruffalo activity for the week.
 They each had a Gruffalo moneybox to paint.

DD took great care in getting all the details right by double checking the book for guidance.

It was really interesting to watch her research.

Baby D is much more interpretive artist and splodged on whatever she fancied where she fancied.

Both moneyboxes are now drying on the kitchen side away from small curious fingers.

I will pop up a picture tomorrow once they are dry and I have decent light.

X x x

Gruffalo week Day 1

Week one of the summer is Gruffalo week.

This morning the girls came downstairs to find there first activity ready to go. 

A Gruffalo mask to colour in and the two books to read.

It was only a small activity today as we also had a family bbq to attend. 

It kept DD nicely entertained while we got everything and everyone ready to leave. Baby D Decided she wasn't in a colouring mood but enjoyed looking through.the books.

X x x

Glowing Bargains

I had to run a few errands this morning and decided to pop into my local Wilkos. 

The clearance section had a stack of glow sticks for 10p a tube! 

15 sticks to a packet made them very budget friendly so I grabbed two.

Tonight the girls had a bath in the dark choosing two sticks each to play with. 

Today's bath time was officially the longest on record. I will definitely be repeating it in the future.

X x x

First and last

BABY D om route to her first day of preschool.

Baby D on her last day before the summer break.

DD on her first day of school.

DD on her final day of Year R.

I can't believe how much my two little girls have changed over the school year! 

Excuse me...I'm just off to convince G-man not to grow up.

X x x

Handmade Gift for teacher.

Tomorrow is DD'S final day of year R. I can't believe it's over so quickly!

Her teacher and teaching assistant have been amazing.  They have really helped support us with Coordinating school and home learning.

DD adores them and has learned so many new and wonderful things.

They definitely deserve a thank you gift, but what to give them?

The shops have a stunning selection of plastic trophies,  giant shiny certificates and chocolate medals, but I am a mummy on a budget.

So I gave DD my two left over plant pots from the windowsill project I completed recently. I armed her with stickers and stick on gems, donated two of my Aloe Vera offshoots and left her too it.

Both teachers now have a hand decorated pot plant.

hopefully they will last longer than any chocolate medal or plastic trophy.

X x x

Havant Fun Day

Today was the annual Havant Fun Day. A great event full of free activities and entertainment for local children. 

Baby D decorated a cupcake.

DD and her school buddy Miss A opted for biscuits.  There were also 2 bouncy castles, an inflatable assault course and a human table football.

The local police are always happy to join in with any community events. Today they were doing fingerprints on a little certificate.

DD loved having hers done.

Baby D wasn't so sure and opted for driving the police coupe around. 

After a couple of hours it started getting too hot and busy for the Random's so we retreated to McDonald's for a cheeky happy meal.

We have all had a fab day and I'm rather proud of managing it all by myself. (Hubby is working )

X x X

Spectacular Specs

I am now the proud owner of two brand new pairs of glasses.

I am really impressed with Tesco opticians. I had my eye test on Tuesday about 1am and today (Friday ) they were ready to collect from the store. Pretty speedy Mr.T! 

 My NHS glasses voucher (thanks to our working tax credits) covered the full cost of one pair and I choose a cheap second pair for back ups.

£15 for two pairs of peepers is definitely a frugal bargain!

My next job is getting to the dentist for a check up and any work booked in before my maternity exemption ends. Dental costs can be a killer to the budget and as they say prevention is better than cure.

X x x

Today's adventures.

DD has been snuggling her new bunny toy. I whipped him up from some leftover eyelash yarn.

Baby D has been to space on adventures. She was home in time for lunch.

G-man was made "beautiful" by his sisters while I popped in the loo. I've promised to take him with me in future for his own protection.

X x x

Busy evening....

I don't like to post negative things about my family. I always think that in 5 years or so DD might be reading these posts  or my Facebook statuses. Who would want to see their mother telling the world horrible things about them. It has Jeremy Kyle written all over it!!!

On this occasion though I will complain about my two biggest pickles! 

What made them decide to open 6, yes 6! Jigsaw puzzles into one big heap on the lounge table? I wish I knew. But once I have sorted them back into the correct boxes I will be putting them on a much higher shelf to control access. 

It's going to be a long evening folks!

X x X

Rainy Sunday fun.

The girls were disappointed to see a grey rainy day this morning. They were on a promise of a picnic at the farm if the weather was nice. Sadly it was not to be. Their little faces were so sad it would have broken the coldest of hearts.

There was only one answer! A carpet picnic in the lounge to enjoy our favourite picnic treats.

smiles were soon restored.

And I've even had time to whip up a little knitted bunny. I used up some of my eyelash yarn I've had stashed forever. He's actually come out rather well I think. Just two more to make for Gman and Baby D.

X x x

Holiday panic?

Rainy day back up activities from Wilkos.

It's almost the summer holidays! Does it fill you with dread or delight? 

Personally I love them. I miss my daughters so much when they are in school and preschool. I must admit to feeling jealous of the teachers getting to be around them more than me.

I still need to prep to make it a success though.

Each week (starting on a Saturday) has an overall theme. This year we are going for;

* The Gruffalo

* The farm

* Dinosaurs

* Under the sea

And one week to be decided as we might be going away if Hubby can book it off work.

Week one is Gruffalo week. So far I have stashed the two Gruffalo books, 2x moneybox painting kits, printable masks, mazes, activity sheets etc. I've pinned several Gruffalo theme games and activities on Pinterest as well as some recipes that fit the theme. I've bookmarked the film adaptions to watch on YouTube. 

  Each evening once the girls are in bed, Hubby and I  set up for the next day. We try and have one active activity (trip out/game to play), two crafty type activities , on theme film to watch and on theme book to read.
 Hopefully we can avoid the phrase "Mummy I'm bored" in this household for the duration.

How are you prepping for the holidays?

 X x x

Mummy Daughter Time

Poor DD has been acting out a little bit this past week. I suspected it was my fault as I just haven't given her much one to one attention these past few weeks. With a two year old whose always getting into something,and a nine week old baby needing constant watching (read: protecting from over helpful big sisters), there just doesn't quite seem enough time to go around.

So today I did the school run solo, took DD to a local ice cream parlour and just listened to what she was telling me.

DD wants more lap cuddles, more school book reading time and funny enough more ice cream treats.

Today I have learnt that 5 isn't actually that old and independent, that the child shouting my name loudest isn't always who needs me most, and that a mummy cuddle can fix almost all the Boo boos in a five year old world's.  

It's been a sobering lesson but one I'm determined to learn from.

X x X

Frugal decorated plant pots.

Having finished the downstairs hallway, I'm eager to start decorating the next room in the house. We've decided to do the lounge as it doesn't need to much changed just a good ole refresh. 

The OCD in me hates my mismatched plantpots on the windowsill. So for the last few evenings I have been attaching self adhesive gems to three matching pots from Wilkos. It's a time consuming craft to do but a plesent one while sat watching my Game of Thrones boxset. So far I've finished two and have about 50% of the final one done.

I'm hoping to have enough gems left over to make a fourth one as gift for DD'S teacher. I'm planning to pot up one of my baby Aloe Vera in it. Hopefully a potted plant will make a nice change from the usual teacher gifts of chocolates and mass produced tat.

X x x

Back on my feet

Sorry for not posting for a little while. Seems I was doing just a little too well with my recovery and picked up a stonking great infection in my wound. I was very lucky to escape being admitted to hospital.

But I am now back up and running just in time to save my poppy seed heads for next year's flowers.

Just in time to spot my first tomato flowers.

 Just in time to catch a wool clearance sale at Wilko. (Shhhh don't tell the Hubby )

                                          X x x

Just