Busy, Busy, Busy,

Hi All, 

I hope you're all well.  We've been busy again this week.  Adam was off work on holiday as he was hoping to get a head start with his goal of sharing 30 hours in the ministry this month, however ill health and poor weather put a bit of a stop to this, we're positive it'll be ok though as we still have most of the month of May left, and the circuit overseers visit at the end of the month should help too.

All was not lost though as we got some jobs done around our home.  We had some damp issues in the spare bedroom, which was James' bedroom before he moved in to share with Sam. So over the last few months we've stripped the wallpaper, treated the walls, and just needed to redecorate, orgainse, sort through items kept in storage, etc, etc, etc.  Having two small children around always seems to make decorating so much harder but we decided not to let that continue to hold us back, so last Sunday after the ministry we wallpapered the bedroom, then on Friday afternoon we painted the walls.  Saturday afternoon we headed over to Ikea and as always made a rather substantial dent on the bank balance, but only with essential purchases!  We bought two new bookshelves, and a stool.

This one is for the new 'office'

This is for the bend in our staircase

This will be our new office chair

So after Adam, with some 'help' from our boys, built all the flat-packed furniture, it was time for me to sort through our boxes of books, mementos and junk! I had decided to replace the bookshelf on the bend in the staircase as it was too dark for that area, which is already small and gets no real natural light.  

The staircase went from this...

to this...

I'm so pleased with the results, its lighter, more simple and looks great.

Unfortunately, I completely forgot to take any 'before' pictures of the office, but here is what it looks like so far. 

Lamps still need shades, windows still need curtains, but we can finally access our PC!

Even my sewing machine now has a proper home!

I really love this bookshelf, especially with our special little things like Adam's pencil collection (in the Ikea plant pot which I adapted!), his red phone box money box used as a book end, and the globe I bought Adam once for an Anniversary gift 

This area will soon be very different too

There is still work to be done; the curtains need to be altered as they're much too long, then they can be re-hung.  The futon is to be dismantled and taken to the tip, then our keyboard and guitar will replace it so the boys can play their music in here too.  The bin bags of old clothes will be donated, the toilet rolls, wet wipes and nappies will also be rehoused!  Pictures will be framed and hung on the walls, then it will look perfect!  

I'm really excited about my ideas for the pictures we'll be hanging in here!  In amongst our old books I found a very old Ordinance Survey Map of North Tyneside (which is where we live) which I think will look awesome framed.  Then I'm going to buy a vintage style world map to go on the other wall, and display all our special postcards around the edges.  I'll also be asking all of my wonderful International friends to send us some postcards from their current locations too, so hopefully we'll have some from Australia, Peru, Nicaragua, USA and France.  That way we can make Geography fun for our boys too.

I hope you like what we've done so far, and I'll show you the proper 'After' pictures once I've finished all the little jobs too.

Michelle x

Hallmark Vintage Wedding Range - A Review

Weddings are always such exciting times, filled with such beautiful memories and items.  We seem to attend more than your average amount of weddings due to having such a large extended family, and friend base from all over the world.

As we always have lots of weddings to attend, and gifts to buy for the happy couples, I was thrilled when Hallmark asked if I'd like to see some of their beautiful new range.

I was sent several items, some of which would be ideal for us to give as wedding gifts, others which would be given from the bride and groom to their wedding party, and others would be bought by the couple themselves, but all were beautiful, and I loved them all.  Let me tell you a little about each item...

Wedding Garter, I'm not a huge fan of garters, and didn't wear one on my own wedding day, but this pretty little accessory is a bargain at only £6!

Happily Ever After Frame, I really love this item, its a perfect and pretty way to display a picture of your special day along with lots of other little mementos.  I think this would make such a lovely gift, but I've decided to keep this for myself and display some of our own mementos which have been hidden away in a memory box for almost 10 years!  This lovely frame is £18 on the Hallmark website, but totally worth it in my opinion.

Married in 2013 Heart, this cute memento heart would make a lovely addition to any wedding hamper and is only £4.

Mr & Mrs Luggage Tags and Passport Covers, these are perfect for any honeymooning couple, and would be a very sweet touch for the bride and groom as they begin their lives together.  They retail at £10 per set.

 

 Thank you gifts for the bridal party are always and essential purchase for the happy couple and Hallmark have also included some lovely gift ideas. A Hip Flask for the boys, and a lovely double picture frame/book for the girls.  Both of these gifts sell for £8, and are a lovely way to say thank you to your special friends.

 


I really like this new range from Hallmark, and think they'll sell very well, I'm sure you'll love them too.

Michelle x


p.s.
Hallmark sent me these products free of charge to review, but all opinions expressed are my own.

Some interesting information about our pound coin!

I've just read that last month (April 2013) the pound coin turned 30!  Moneysupermarket.com have done some great research on the pound comparing it with things from its inception in 1983. It’s incredible how things have changed, I found this really interesting and thought you might too!

Michelle x

Family Bank Holiday Fun - Infographic

With May upon us and two bank holiday weekends looming, it can be hard to make your mind up how to keep the family entertained for that extra day with an exciting trip.

With family budgets stretched further than ever, it can be expensive taking the family out for the day, so moneysupermarket.com have come up with some great offers to help you make the most of May Day without breaking the bank!

In the below infographic you'll find a variety of suggestions for great days out all over the country to help you find somewhere for that perfect family day out. They've also revealed the results of a survey they carried out in which they asked over 70 parenting bloggers (including me!) about their family habits for days out.

Hope it helps you decide what to do this weekend!

Michelle x

Image source: MoneySupermarket Travel Insurance

A Little Magic in my Garden - Miracle-Gro Flower Magic - A Review

I've spoken before about my garden, how much I'd love it to look beautiful, how I wish I was more green fingered, but despite my best efforts it never quite looks like I'd imagined, so you can imagine how thrilled I was when I was contacted about reviewing a lovely new product from Miracle-Gro. 

I'm told that Miracle-Gro Flower magic is the easy way to grow beautiful flowers from seed. This unique all-in-1 flower seed mix has extra Miracle-Gro ingredients that promises to let anyone grow beautiful summer flowers from seed guaranteed, without effort or experience. Just sprinkle, water and enjoy!

This revolutionary new product has a unique 3-in-1 mix of premium flower seed, Miracle-Gro Plant Food and shredded coir compost, which grows twice as many flowers as seed alone. Using the market-leading expertise of Miracle-Gro, this product has been independently tried and tested so you can enjoy guaranteed results!  

Simply choose an area with moist soil and good natural light, remove any weeds and then rake over the soil lightly.  Sprinkle the mix evenly over the soil. Remember, the flower seeds are tiny so they will be invisible in the soil. What you will see is the plant food granules, so use these to help you apply the mix - each granule should be approximately 1.5cm apart when applied correctly.  Water it in gently until the soil turns dark brown, then just let the Miracle-Gro ingredients do the rest… The shredded coir compost will protect the seeds in the soil, giving them the best environment in which to grow. The slow release plant food will then feed the seedlings for up to four months, keeping your flowers strong and healthy. All you need to do is keeping watering. The clever coir compost will even tell you when to do this - it will turn light brown when you need to add more water and dark brown once you’ve watered it enough.

I started this process a few weeks ago, and am happy to report that, despite my misgivings, little green shoots have now started to appear in the flower beds.  I shall take a picture for you all to see during the summer when I am enjoying these miraculous flowers! :)

Michelle x

p.s. I was sent some Miracle Gro Flower Magic free of charge to review, however all opinions expressed are my own. 

I'm back - after a busy few months!

Hi all, I offer my apologies for having neglected my blog for so long, there have been several reasons really.  The main reason is that I've been so busy sharing in field ministry that my 'spare' time has been taken up with catching up with housework, study, and playing with my children. :)

During the months of March and April there has been a special effort world wide for Jehovah's Witnesses to act as an Auxiliary Pioneer; promising to share in the preaching work for at least 30 hours each month.  I, along with my family, have taken part in this, and loved it!  In May, our congregation are having a visit from the Circuit Overseer so I get to pioneer again this month too.  I'm tired, weather beaten and very happy!

So here is a brief review of what I've been up to lately: -

In February we celebrated our 9th Wedding Anniversary with a big dose of flu.  I practically lost a whole month due to illness, so the only way was up from there.

March was an exciting month, we had 42 Auxiliary Pioneers in our congregation, serving along with our 7 Regular Pioneers (they share in the preaching work for an average of 70 hours per month).  We also had a wonderful time preparing for, and commemorating the Memorial of the Death of Jesus Christ.  The boys had lots of fun preparing the Kingdom Hall for all our visitors (as did I).

Following the memorial we also had a special public talk.  This year our congregation hosted two talks, on the Sunday morning it was in English, and in the afternoon it was in Spanish.  37 people attended the Spanish Special Talk, which was amazing as it goes to prove that our little Spanish group is growing in interest all the time.

In April I arranged a special pioneer day for our children too, whoever took part in the morning ministry got to come back to our house for a party afterwards.  We had 17 crammed into my small living room after a wonderful, if wet and cold morning.  The boys loved it.

April also saw two weeks school holidays, we had lots of fun together.  We visited my sister and brother in law in Scotland, we spent time with friends, went to the Discovery Museum, bowled with friends at the local alley, and lots, lots more!

So here we are at the start of May, I'm ready to go again.  I promise to make more of an effort to keep you all better updated!

How have you all been?  What's new?

Michelle x

Hello!

Hello lovely blog readers,

I'm sorry I've neglected you for the last few weeks...months!  I'm still here, just mega busy.  I'll write more soon I promise.  I hope everyone is well!?

Michelle x