Little Designers with Asda

Whilst we were away this summer, the days were whizzing past ticking down the time until schools re opened, we returned with just a few days to spare, and three children to kit out with new uniform!

So with a bit of a mad dash we rushed to the one place I knew would have what I needed at a price that wouldn't leave me bankrupt - Asda George school uniform range.

I picked up a pair of shoes each priced £8 polo shirts 2 packs for £2.50 Sweatshirts and Trousers all under £5 each, along with shorts and T.shirts for PE  kitting out all three for a perfectly reasonable price and from previous years I know the clothes wash well and are great quality, the trousers have adjustable waist straps which is always a must, and Dupont Teflon fabric protection which makes them repel spills and stains, where the designs are sensible yet fashionable the shoes hard wearing and comfortable.

I was pretty impressed being able to find everything I needed with no difficulties in my local store, finding the correct sizes in stock even with just a couple of days before the new term started and returned home thankful that the children would have something to wear on the first day of the new term.

But then for an added bonus today I picked up a parcel which had been sat waiting for me in the local delivery office and inside was my Little Designer Pack from George at Asda.

Before we went away I was contacted by Asda asking if we'd like to be included in this fab blogger challenge and I jumped at the chance,  but also said I may not be around to receive the pack if it hadn't arrived before we left. I waiting in the weeks before we left hoping the postman brought the pack but it didn't arrive, and as I set off I had resigned myself to not being able to join in this time assuming by the time we returned the parcel would have been returned to sender.

So I was thrilled to find it still waiting to be picked up in the delivery office today. Inside the pack was a Red Gingham dress (£4) for Chloe, (ideal seems as the weather has decided to shower us with sunshine at the moment and I had chosen out trousers for her on my mad dash) Trousers (£3), polo shirts (£2.50) and a Red jumper (£2)  for the boys and a backpack to decorate with the fabric paint and crayons.

The idea of the challenge is to let the kids get creative and design their own backpack to complement the great school uniform from the George at Asda range.

Chloe was thrilled and instantly claimed the backpack as her own, covering it in stars and heart designs and making it a perfectly funky accessory fit for the most fashion conscious tween.

I think she did a great job, and she looks lovely in the Gingham dress, and she can't wait to return to school tomorrow to show off her bag!

So if like me you left everything to the last minute and you are still looking for a few extra bits of uniform, maybe you are in need of some summery bits, and you want affordable items which are chosen by mums, tested by kids guaranteed by George- yes thats right all clothing come with a 100 day satisfaction guarentee so you can buy with confidence,  take a look at this great quality affordable range!



Although I was asked to join in with the little designer challenge and sent a selection of uniform and the bag in order to participate, I personally choose to do the rest of my uniform shopping at Asda spending my own money as I genuinely do think these clothes are great!

Mum, can cows swim?

As I was looking back through the many hundreds of photographs I took this past month whilst away from the Internet and spending time cruising the canals, I laughed to myself remembering the day mid way in to our trip cruising up the Llangollen stretch of the Shropshire Union canal, past beautiful countryside, farms and idyllic gardens beautifully present right on the edge of the canal.

 We were moored up waiting to go through a lock, I'd jumped out the boat to man the lock when suddenly there was a almighty splash, I looked back quickly doing a head count...1,2,3..no not the children...Dogs inside what on earth was that?

Then my youngest jumped up pointing behind  'Mummmm... can cows swim?'

I followed his finger and saw a cow swimming up the canal under the bridge, as I grabbed my camera there was a second splash and another cow had followed down the slippery embankment and into the canal.

The first cow by this time had made its way under the bridge and up onto the bank on the other side, straight into the beautifully kept gardens we had just passed!

We ran over and saw the second cow trying to get out onto the tow path side under the bridge,but the bank was too step so instead she turned and joined her friend in the garden amongst the ornamental flowers and trees!

Both cows seemed completely unfazed by their swim now munching on the plants they had found and trampling the lawn whilst the home owners could only stand back and watch!

They stood their mouths open watching the garden become a snack bar to two huge animals, the lady called across to us that never in all the years of living there had a cow invaded her garden!

Thankfully both cows were unhurt and seemed completely unfazed by their ordeal, the farmer was called to help them back into their field and we moved on through the lock on our way.

But if you ever find yourself confronted by an inquisitive child asking if Cows can swim, you can say well yes actually it seems they can!

Heartache of the Classroom

Last night I hurried about, desperately trying to find all the book bags homework logs and water bottles, setting out three newly brought sets of clothes and shoes and setting my alarm clock for an early rise like many other mothers up and down the country.

But unlike some I don't look forward to returning the children to school, I don't breath a sigh of relief when I hand them over to their teachers, returning home to a house to myself, in fact I would almost say I hate it.

Not only do I miss the hustle and bustle of having to work round constant shouts of 'Mummmmm'and requests for food and entertainment, but I guess I have never really been one to embrace the school life culture, I don't really know if my three learn more in the classroom or at home, and I am not really sure as a parent how I should be working along side teachers who I don't know, don't know the children all that well and have completely different methods and attitudes towards learning than me.

When school starts it seems so does extra heartache, extra worry.

I look at my eldest whos just started into year 6, his last year at Primary school and remember the day he started infants, I remember that proud feeling as I watched him take up his seat in a strange room for the first time and I thought I had done a great job teaching him his numbers and to write his name, recognise alot of letters in the alphabet and shapes he saw around him, I didn't really know any other 4 year olds or have any other experience of children and schools and it was a shock to me when a few months later at the parents evening there seemed to be a huge list of things he didn't know, I set about taking up the evenings when he returned home frantically trying to teach him the key words, he initially joined in with gusto, pleased to have his homework but then as the months went on and things got harder, he wasn't learning to read quickly, he struggled to remember the keywords writing was obviously difficult and he seemed to be unable to grasp even easy concepts of the English language, and I continued to badger him into 'doing better'. School nights were horrible, upset and frustrations, books became a hatred object and bedtimes stories no longer a pleasure.

Years passed and I realised it wasn't working, the school were sure Jake was dyslexic but as he was making progress he wasn't considered 'bad enough' for any extra help.  But I knew the only reason for his progress all be it slow was due to his determination to try, but all the input all the tension and upset was having a serious knock on effect to his self esteem, he saw his younger sister start school and learn to read with ease and be able to sit for hours writing stories,  saw his classmates handwriting begin to neaten up whilst his still scribbled along the page.

Back at home books got left untouched and pens were never asked for,  demands and evenings filled with tension were the only time that 'learning' took place. I didn't know what to do, so decided to do what I thought was best... nothing.

I decided to stop the reading of the books forced into his book bag, stop the repetitive barking out spellings, it wasn't working anyway his spelling results were always very low the books he struggled through just meant another book appeared in its place, yet simple key words still seemingly impossible for him to depict. Whats the point in being seen to be on a certain reading level when in reality you have merly struggled through the books and certainly don't fluently or easily read them, and when something is such a chore it is never going to be enjoyable is it?

I no longer wanted his life to be filled with a sense of 'I'm not good enough' I wanted him to have some time to forget, to play to have fun to be happy.

And with that we no longer looked in book bags, we ran home from school (or biked) and threw off the uniform to rush outside to climb a tree.

I don't know if that's right, I don't force the issue to 'do better' but I constantly wonder if I should be.

We moved schools and the new school have been very supportive offering lots of extra help for Jakes Dyslexia - although still no formal diagnosis his teacher told me he is the most obviously Dyslexic child hes ever seen, Jakes happier and is making slow progress with reading and writing his school report was full of praise stating ''To try hard when your doing well is one thing,but to try as hard as Jake has when the subject is so difficult for you is a real tribute to Jakes tenacity and determination.'' and ''he is a likable, well mannered and polite boy who is an absolute credit to his family. Well done Jake - you can hold your head high and be proud of your efforts this year.''
Yet even still I question if I am helping him enough, if sitting him down each night for half an hour extra work would make even greater progress? should I be putting in more effort to helping him grasp the concepts he struggles with, or is doing nothing really the best thing to do?


Now I have my youngest starting Year 1 should I do it differently this time? so far I have been as slack with regards to his formal learning as I am with Jakes, not wishing for the same dent in self confidence to occur. Yet the same questions and feeling that I should be doing more are still there.

So yes school is back, the house is quiet and I may actually get on top of the work I have to do, but I know that with the return of schools there is extra heartache and worry and if I could spend the days wistfully uncaring about school stats and scores and education then I think I would.

Adventure over - for now.

The nights are drawing in, the Summer is over, School holidays finished and normality is returning to families everywhere and I'm feeling it more than most this year as the past 6 weeks we have been on a mammoth adventure, packing a bag full of clothes and only a few essentials, taking the dog and three children and leaving behind all home comforts, electrical gadgets and throwing caution to the wind and piling our family into a 20ft cruiser on the canals, which became our home for the summer. With only a small budget not big enough to stretch to world wide travel, but a gusto to explore and see new things we were ready to experience something new, already familiar with making the most out of the ordinary we were convinced we would have a great time, despite the small size and limited appliances.

Total madness some might say, how on earth will you all manage? what will you do when it rains? can you cook decent food in there? what about  toilets and showers?

But these things didn't worry us and to be honest we decided to not plan a great deal, not spend too long worrying about the what ifs and where abouts and just give it a go, if we were all ready to kill each other after a couple of days then we would return home,  with the thought that the great outdoors will be entertainment enough, and longing for some quality 'away from it all' time together everything else seemed not to matter.

With no set plan or time scale, we initially intended to get through a week, packing the cupboards with as much as we could fit  as our budget would not stretch to pub meals, a 2 ringed gas cooker with a grill was our kitchen, but from previous camping holidays we were attuned to making gormet meals with minimal facilities.

As the days passed we all fell into the swing of living on board, the space was not an issue, there was room inside the cabin for the boys to spread out their box of Lego and create amazing adventures of their own, whilst Chloe could sit outside happily doodling the sights we saw. Sleeping was cosy but not too much of a squeeze and it was really refreshing for computers to be a background thought as the childrens imagination came alive as they played under bridges and splashed in streams marvelling at the insects and creatures they saw.

The weather was a real mixed bag as we travelled, we had the storms and days where we didn't venture out of the boat at all and the scorching hot heat on others, neither caused too much of an issue, the Wind and rain meaning we couldn't move far but pens and paper entertained us all drawing comics and making puzzles for each other passed the rainy hours.

Then when the sun shined we worked locks and went through tunnels.

Saw wildlife and animals and chatted to hundreds of friendly people, other boaters with stories to tell or passes by on the tow path all intrigued by our journey and ability to be managing without all the creature comforts everyone is so used to.

The days passed into weeks and we continued to enjoy our trip, using the British waterways facilities shower blocks and toilet disposal at regular set out locations along the canal made the journey comfy.
Stopping off to visit local towns to catch up with the real world in library's using the Internet access to keep on top of things, sampling the local farm shop products set out at locks and relishing the freedom away from computer screens and television.

We travelled all the way along the Staffs and Worcester Canal and then up the Shropshire Union turning off onto the Llangollen branch into Wales ,managing to find petrol stations close enough to refill without too much trouble.

The views are indescribable along the canal, natural beauty and it was a brilliant way to unwind from the everyday worries  finishing each day watching the sunset before snuggling down worn out from the days activities.

We continued cruising along and reached the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct a breathtaking stream in the sky, the mammoth structure carries the Llangollen canal over the River Dee a huge 38 meters in height and over 1000ft long it is the tallest and longest Aqueduct in Britain and is worthy of its World Heritage site status, we moored in the Basin for a couple of nights so we could take in the sights around the beautiful area.

I could of happily stayed cruising the countryside for longer but reality calls, so we are home our adventure over, but our thirst for living with nature on your doorstep, learning the lessons only life can teach and seeing sights worthy of dreams is ever present, I have so many photos to look through and memories I want to record but for now it's back to the reality of school uniform shopping and answering emails which were left to one side and dreaming of the next break away.

Zhu Zhu Ponies

You are probably aware of the range of Zhu Zhu hamsters, cute little robotic hamster that make squeaky noises and move around with a touch of intelligence enabling them to navigate around your floor all day long.

They are hugely popular toys and seem to attract children of all ages, we have a variety of hamsters, the boys have the battle arena and Chloe the grooming salon to entertain their furry friends, and they get played with a fair amount, the hamster more so than the play sets.

The range however has just expanded, now joining the Zhuniverse is a range of pretty little ponies.

The Zhu Zhu ponies are the latest in the Zhu Zhu range, and really are rather lovely, with their long flowing mane which can be brushed and styled, and their rather sweet noises and movement these are abit like furry moving my little ponies.

And as ponies are a huge hit for lots of girls these make a lovely gift.

The ponys are sold separately, and there are 6 to collect priced around £14.99 and to add to the collection is a set of pony stables which interconnect to make your own Zhu Zhu pony world.

Each individual pony comes with a brush and a couple of little accessories the pony we received came with two little clips for her hair.

The gable stable we received came with lots of accessories, 7 sections of fence, a bucket and several food items, there is also a little section of grass which the food can slot into and a drawer to store your accessories.

Wenlock - the Olympic Mascots

I am sure you have seen the London 2012 Olympic mascots by now,strange looking creatures with a huge all seeing eye.

There is lots of official merchandise including these strange mascots and we were sent a soft cuddly Wenlock to review.

This soft Wenlock is the perfect Souvenir for children who want to support the Olympics, and my three love him!

Holiday Get away

We're nearly at the end of the second week of the summer holidays already, and I am trying to plan ahead and hoping for a chance to up and leave on some form of adventure, hoping to go cruising along the canals.

Going off sounds lovely,  pack a few essentials and off you go, that is normally the routine I take,up and leaving for a couple of days camping with little forward planning at all.

But this time we are hoping to be able to go for longer than a weekend, so I do need to plan abit.

The household pets are the first thing I need to arrange a sitter for, Jackson can  come along with us, but I don't think the boat is big enough to accommodate the budgie and guinea pig aswell.

Then there is the essential bits and pieces without which the trip is destined to be a disaster.

Oh top of this priority list is the first aid supplies, having an asthmatic son it is vital we have enough inhaler to last before we can return home for a refill, not to mention his Epi Pen, so before going away it's a must to get the repeat prescription from the doctors, then the plasters, paracetamol and sickness relievers are those things that you always wish you had if you don't pre think to take them along, so I am desperate to be above the game and be prepared for every occasion.

Other essentials are a wash bag, its always important to have baby wipes or a hand towel to hand when you have children, toothbrushes and soap seem to be something I normally forget and then have to dash out to find once camped up.

Also travelling with children,and the great British weather, I think its important to have a 'play bag' filled with some of their all time favourite time passes, going camping in a tent, or cruising on the canal the one thing I always notice is the limited space, so I have a one bag for all rule, I find this works well and although they don't have the normal chest full of toys to pick through I do find a select few entertain them for longer anyway.

Things we are including in our play bag to entertain everyone no matter where we are, include a pack of cards, pens and notebooks, a few power rangers figures, a small tub of lego, DS  and a couple of games and a favourite teddy, That seems to be enough to keep my three entertained when the weathers not nice enough for them to run around outside.

Of course its all fine getting the holiday bags packed and ready to go, and the essentials may well make for a smooth getaway, but there is nothing worse than returning home and finding the house a mess, a pile of unpaid bills on the door mat to greet you and no food in the house.

So before we leave I will be sure to hoover round, change the beds, empty bins and I may even get out the duster, then I will ensure there is some food for us to eat on our return the most important being tea bags, milk and biscuits!

 Cravendale milk lasts upto 21 days unopened making it an essential purchase before you go away allowing you to return home to a cuppa.

I am linking this post upto the Britmums come home to a cuppa linky for a chance to win a years supply of Cravendale milk, do pop over to the Britmums blog to see how other people are preparing for their holidays.