I feel like an extreme couponer!

Hello, I hope you have had a lovely day so far today.

We have been busy, the decluttering of the lounge was finished yesterday so today we cleaned!

• We washed the walls
• Washed the skirting boards
• Washed the doors, door handles and light and plug fixtures
• Washed the window
• Vacuumed the sofas and put leather feed on them
• Cleaned the TV stand
• Washed the fireplace
• Polished the wood
• Washed the staircase
• Vacuumed the floors
• Washed the floor
• Washed the cushion covers

Clean windows but I think I need to cut some bushes down!

Unfortunately the weather wasn't nice enough to wash the curtains so I still need to do this, I also need to wash the lampshade and clean the mirror. Then the lounge will be complete and I will take photos.

I have been so busy cleaning today that I haven't put any items on Ebay so I will focus on that tomorrow.

My thirteen year old is fourteen next week. He was given an option of either birthday presents or to go on the army cadets ten day summer camp which cost £100, he chose the summer camp. He leaves the day after his birthday, but his suitcase and his large backpack has to be delivered to the army cadets office tomorrow, which is fine because he has a cadets barbecue anyway. This afternoon we packed his bags which I must admit it was quite stressful because he can get a bit stroppy and isn't particularly good at finding his things.

We went to the shop this afternoon to get a few items and I had printed some ASDA price guarantee coupons yesterday. I bought:-

• Large bag of Apples
• Two bags of crisps
• Yorkshire puddings
• Bag of potatoes
• Toilet wipes (for my son to take to camp)
• Kitchen rolls
• Plastic bag

This cost me 6p, I was very pleased!

Then this evening I had to pop back to the shop as my son needed bin liners in his case and I had run out.  This time I bought:-

Loaf of bread - 10p
2x4 jacket potatoes - 10p each
2x packs of mango fingers (for breakfast) -10p each
Bin bags £2.40
Deodorant for Ben £1.50 reduced from £3.00
2x4 pints milk 10p each
Pack toasting waffle (my thirteen year old asked for these for breakfast and as he is going away I agreed) -£1.25
Orange squash juice 40p
Total - £6.25

Again another pretty good shop, I think.

Because of the rain I haven't been running tonight which is a bit of a shame really.

Well that's it from me for one night, I'm starting to feel a bit sleepy

Take care xx

Dentist day!

Hello, I hope you are having a nice day.

First thing this morning I sat down to a coffee and a healthy breakfast. I am trying to limit the amount of coffee that I drink by having just one cup in the morning and drinking water the rest of the day.

At lunchtime today the children had the dentist, it didn't go as well as expected because my thirteen year old had a bad throat and couldn't go and my youngest son had a nose bleed in the chair so couldn't be seen either. The other two were fine. My daughter will need to see the orthodontist but still has too many baby teeth to go down that road yet. The dentist commented on how clean they keep their teeth! Yeah right, only through nagging!

I have continued to load books and DVD's onto Ziffit and have made a further £5.00.

I have also put this unit onto Ebay for £5.00 to see if anyone is interested in it. I had to empty the bottom drawer before I could list it and it was full of wires. I hate sorting through wires because I never know which ones we are likely to need but I have asked Ben a couple of times and he doesn't seem very interested so here goes!

I decided to wrap them in circles and seal them with sellotape so they are nice and neat and I will ask Ben if he will just tell me what we need and what we don't.

As I told you yesterday I am decluttering and cleaning the lounge this week I thought I would show you what cleaning is involved in this deep clean.

• Take everything out of drawers, cupboards etc. Throw, sell whatever is not needed and make a permanent home for the items to remain
• Wash inside windows and doors
• Take everything off walls and dust
• Vacuum corners of walls, wash any marks off walls
• Vacuum sofa and wash cushions
• Dust wooden furniture
• Wash skirting boards
• Clean TV unit
• Wash fireplace
• Clean mirror
• Vacuum and wash floors
• Make a list of anything that needs repairing or replacing

Well as I'm still decluttering I haven't achieved much else yet but it will be lovely to sit in once it is all done.

 

 

Here's the first box of stuff ready to send off.

 

 

I have lost 3lb this week from trying to change my eating, drinking water and running twice so far this week. I have a few things to do this evening but if I get chance I would like to go running again. I haven't been stretching the last couple of days but Nathalie reminded me this morning that I must do this or I will pull a muscle so from now on I will.

 

 

Have a great evening and take care xx

Day one of the holidays

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hello, happy Monday.

This morning my darling daughter was meant to be starting a week of drama at the senior school she will be going to in just over a years time but they didn't cash our cheque for the course. I asked her this morning did she want to go because I would happily argue that they should have cashed the cheque but she said she would much rather spend the week with us as she has only just broken up. I was quite relieved as I didn't really fancy spending the week walking backwards and forwards.

I thought this morning I would do a list of things I would like to do today:-

• Organise a menu plan for the week - done
• Put two loads of washing on - one done
• Start organising and cleaning the lounge - started
• Shop for the weeks food - half done (I didn't have a pound coin for a trolley)
• Put a load of DVDs on music magpie - done £32.00 into PGL fund
• Read a couple of chapters of my book
• Go to the park with the kids - done
• Go for a run
• Clean the kitchen - done
• Do ten items of ironing - done
• Hoover downstairs - done
• Children to clean their bedrooms - done
• Spend 30 mins cutting down the bushes in the garden - done

Normally when I'm doing a large clean up and organise I would spend a week on each room but this time I only have five and a half weeks to do this in (the last week has two teacher training days in it) so I need to do two rooms a week, the rooms in our house are :-

• Lounge
• Playroom
• Kitchen
• Conservatory
• Hall
• Downstairs toilet
• My bedroom
• Daughters bedroom
• Two eldest boys bedroom
• Two youngest boys bedrooms
• Bathroom
• Garage
• Spend 30 mins cutting down the bushes in the garden

So the plan is to do a large room with a small room so this week it is the lounge and the hall. The focus for the next couple of days is to declutter, less is more! And the only way life is going to become easier for me is if we have less stuff to tidy up.

Meal Plan

Monday - Hot dogs and salad

Tuesday - Shepherds Pie and veg

Wednesday- Chicken, roast potatoes, carrots, broccoli, Yorkshire pudding and gravy

Thursday - chicken, buckwheat salad

Friday - breakfast for dinner

Saturday - Mexican lamb and roasted veggie couscous

Sunday - steak, new potatoes and salad

Oh dear I'm being pestered to go for a run and I've only just eaten and my legs are a bit sore from yesterday, but I don't think I'm going to get out of this and really although I only have a target of going for a run three times a week the sooner I get the three times done the more chance there is that I will pass my target.

Picture Updates

Fun at the park

 

Box of DVDs sold on Ziffit to go towards paying for my daughters school trip

 

Todays healthy lunch - Chicken salad pitta with new potatoes and apple.

Well that's it from me for today, I am off to have a run with the kids. ***update - run done but just me and my nine year old, the other two wimped out***

Now I am going to have a bath, a face mask and read my book.

Take care xx



Oh yeah we went running!

Hello dear friends, well its Sunday and I don't have that Sunday feeling...

Ha, that's because I have five and a half weeks off!

Today, my darling daughter went to another party, this time to see the new BFG film and then to Pizza Express for dinner. That girl has so many lovely friends and such a good social life. I dropped her off this morning and then my nine year old son and I went over to see my mum and dad. Things have changed a bit with my dad recently and it looks like we are going to have quite a difficult summer.

When we arrived my dad asked me whether I would be able to go out next Saturday afternoon, it is my mums birthday on Sunday, my dad has decided to treat my mum, my sister in law, my aunt and myself to an afternoon tea at a hotel near the village where they live. Of course said yes! I'm very excited about it, the hotel is very pretty and it will be such a lovely treat.

After picking up my daughter and coming home we decided to go for a run, I was worn out, but the kids are very motivating and are insistent that we go every day to make us healthy (more like me healthy).

Today I have eaten:-

• 2 slices of toast
• Chicken breast cooked in a curried yoghurt
• Bulghar wheat salad
• Potato salad
• Tomatoes
• Cucumber

I have also drunk six glasses of water.

Tomorrow I intend to start a little bit of decluttering. I think I will start in the lounge as I have a box of old DVD's that I am going to put on Music Magpie. Everything penny that I make from the decluttering will be going towards paying for my daughters PGL trip in September. I feel bad because we haven't yet managed to pay for the trip and I don't want her missing out.

I guess decluttering will be solving two problems, one, helping to pay from my daughters trip. Two, reducing the amount of items that we own and have in the house hopefully resulting in it becoming easier for me to keep our house clean and tidy when I am back to work and working full time.

I think I will post before and after photo's of the whole house so that you can see what a difference I have made and I can look back on the changes.

Well that's it for today, have a lovely evening and take care xx

Yay, we are finally there...Summer Holidays!

Hello dear friends, we are finally on summer holidays and it feels so good. Its been the hardest working year that I have had since joining the school just over three years ago, even though I have been working with the loveliest teacher ever, I walked out after the Year six prom last night and felt very relieved.

I intend to enjoy every minute of this holiday and for the first time in forever do some things for me. Recently, in fact, on and off for about six months I have been feeling very unwell, catching any bug going around, suffering with hip aches and having blood infections. Yes, I realise I'm getting older but I haven't even hit forty five yet so I know I am doing something wrong. So, this summer it is time for me to put me in order and not on the backburner. I will continue to spend time with my kids but for me I intend to:-

• Relax in the bath with a face and hair mask and read a book at least once a week.
• Eat healthy meals that I enjoy eating (rather than what everyone else chooses)
• Drink lots of water and cut out the caffeine
• Paint my finger and toe nails once a week
• Get my eyebrows done (its been ages since they were done)
• Spend some time enjoying the sun
• Go running three times a week with my daughter

I'm hoping that taking a little bit of time for me will make me feel much healthier, happier and ready to go back to a full time job in September.

Today, I have eaten:-

• Egg Sandwich
• Chicken and New potato salad
• Yoghurt

I have had four glasses of water and a chilled latté.

 

We have had a fairly busy day, myself and my three youngest children went into town earlier to get two birthday presents for my daughters friends. My daughter had a gift card from her birthday that she spent of a hand stitched Paris journal (Oh dear she has my love of books!), she also used the last of her birthday money on a pair of shoes. My nine year old spent some of his birthday money on a big pack of sharpies (the boy loves pens!).

We came home and my daughter got ready to go to her friends limousine and Prezzo's restaurant party.

My youngest two sons and I then stopped a Costa, one had a Coke and crisps, the other had a hot chocolate and a crispy cake and I had a chilled latte. I love cold coffee!

Tonight I intend to have a bath and read my book.

I hope you have had a lovely day, the first day of our holiday has been bliss!

Take care xx
 

Busy Busy Busy

Hello dear friends.

I thought while I have five minutes spare I would pop in and say Hello.

It has been a very busy week since I was here last but I am still around, just not quite so much at the minute.

For those of you that are used to me commenting on your own blogs I'm so sorry I haven't been reading but I haven't forgotten about you and can't wait to catch up on your posts during the holidays (seven more working days to go).

I knew it was going to be very busy at work as this time of year always is but unfortunately its been busier than I could have imagined, I am in year five at school we have six members of staff in the year five team and we are currently missing three of them due to illness and broken bones. Its very sad as this is an exciting time of year and I know my lovely colleagues are very sad to be unable to join us in the fun.

I have two new items of furniture to show you that were given to me (aren't I lucky) I haven't had chance to take photos of them yet and if I'm honest they are not ready to be photographed yet, so that is something to look forward to.

During the holidays I will be selling lots of items in a bid to tidying up the house (Have I told you I will be working full time from September?) so less clutter is seriously required! And also to raise the £304 for my darling daughters school trip. Both of her elder brothers went on this trip when they were in year six and I think for her confidence she also should go on this trip but it is expensive!

Oh I must just tell you that my thirteen year old passed his Bronze Duke of Edinburgh award at the weekend and will be starting his silver in September. I am very proud of him.

Well my lovely friends things will start getting back to normal around here in just over a week and a half but now I am off to bed.

Take care xx

Birthday boys!

Hello, I hope you have had a nice weekend. I have been missing for a few days, ad I told you a couple of days ago things are really busy around here. This will continue for the next three weeks until we have broken up from school, so I may be a flaky blogger but I do apologise in advance.


Well today has been two of my darling boys birthdays Liam is nineteen and my darling eight year old is no longer eight he is now my darling nine year old.
My nine year old was up at six am (mummy was not) so I got up around seven and watched a movie with him before everyone got up and he was able to open his presents.
They consisted of :-
books
ukelele
harmonica
pyjamas
art box
stationary for school
star wars drinks bottle


His presents didn't cost a fortune and yet he was thrilled with them. It just goes to show you don't have to get into debt for presents.


Liam went out with his friends last night and didn't get home until 3.30am so he wasn't around until about ten and even them he was a bit tired. He mainly got money for his birthday as there really isn't very much that he needs. I did get him a nice book for uni to write all his notes in together with some pens and a stapler. He stayed for a few hours and then went to see his dad and off tk a barbecue at his friends.


We took our nine year old and the rest to the big toy store in town to spend his money that he'd got from family for gis birthday. He bought himself a game and some top trumps and he still has plenty of money left.


The little ones have now gone off to bed and I will be following them very soon.


Have a nice evening and take care xx