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Word of the Week #49, Catching up

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Hello and welcome to the home of Word of the Week, a nice and simple weekly linky, with everyone welcome to pop by and share. The idea of the linky is to reflect back on your past week and share it with us. It’s great if you can sum it up in a word or phrase, hence giving us your Word of the Week. My word this week is catching up and you can read more about that below.

I’m not totally strict on using just a word or phrase but please try to stick to the theme of summing up your week.

IMPORTANT NOTICE

Since adding this link up party to a directory I’ve noticed a lot of posts, in particular, recipe posts, that do not fit in with the theme of this linky. I have made the decision to remove these posts from further link ups. So please don’t link up anything unless it includes a summary of your week or events in your life. Thank you for your understanding

There are not too many rules with this linky, just remember to read at least another couple of posts in the link up after adding your link. I will read and comment on all posts and tweet them out for you. I also have a Pinterest board devoted to Word of the Week and I will add posts to Mix Please add the badge below to your post so that others may find us and join in. If you comment or tweet then please use the hashtag #WotW

Word of the Week is open from 6am on Friday Morning to 12 noon on Monday. Plenty of time to join in!

If you are unfamiliar with the Word of the Week linky then please feel free to ask any questions. New linkers are always welcome, we love to hear what you have been up to in the past week.

MY WORD OF THE WEEK – Catching Up

photo of christmas presents with the words Catching up!

This week has passed in a whirlwind. After all the sickness last week there has been a lot of catching up to do. The kids ended up having a long weekend off school. Thankfully the girls were off on an inset day on Friday, but they couldn’t go back until Tuesday to ensure it had been a full 48 hours since the last time someone was sick. I don’t like keeping them off school, but this was one nasty bug and I certainly didn’t want to pass it on to anyone else. Apparently my son’s school is very short staffed at the moment.

So, since they’ve been back I’ve been catching up with wrapping presents for Christmas. I’m happy to say my shopping is 99% complete and a lot of it is wrapped. I’ve still not written a Christmas card though..thankfully I don’t have many to send. I’ve also been working hard promoting my Avon business as they’ve had some fantastic sales this past week.

I’ve been busy catching up on my Christmas Crochet and I’m half way through my Christmas cushion cover. I hope I can get it finished in time for when my Christmas decorations go up…hopefully, this weekend.

Also, the girls have new bunk beds so we’ve had operation clean up which has kept us all really busy. I can only work a little at a time and even with all of us on the job it’s been a huge task. I mean…how many cuddly toys can two girls own? Once we reduced the cuddlies and the baby toys (yes, Peppa pig and Ben and Holly toys as well as Barbie dolls) the room was looking much bigger. Then I tackled their clothes and bagged up everything that no longer fitted either of them. It’s going to be a busy few days getting the room ready and putting the beds together.

I’ve also started filling up my Christmas food shopping trolly and ordered my turkey for Christmas. Oh yes, I’m feeling organised. (Yes, I know I don’t have my tree up yet, don’t remind me.)

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Boo’s 12th Birthday Bash and a Hunt for Presents

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The Missing Presents

T’was the night before Boo’s birthday and all through the house…the adults were on a mad hunt for her birthday presents that I had lost.

The kid’s main birthday present this year is a Nintendo Switch and at £270 it was a shared present. So, on their actual birthday’s they will be getting smaller token presents to open. I had the Switch so that was okay but it was Boo’s smaller presents I’d lost. A cover for her tablet, a special drawing pen for her tablet and a dress to wear on her birthday.

I remembered wrapping them up and I knew no-one else was around when I did it. But I could not remember what I’d done with them afterwards. I knew they were not in the living room as we had to remove all the furniture for the new carpet. So they had to be somewhere else, but I’d no clue where.

Eventually, Graham found them under some clothes in a cupboard in our bedroom. I’d looked there but not deep enough to find them. It was 4am when he found them!

The Birthday

Initially, Boo had come into my bedroom at 5am and asked if she could get up. I told her it was way too early and she’d be tired by the time her friends came around so persuaded her to go back to bed. She re-appeared at 7am which was much better.

Boo loved her gifts and also had a fair amount of money in her birthday cards which she was thrilled with.

All three of my chldren had a fun day playing on the Switch and Boo loved trying out her new tablet pen.

3 kids playing Mario Kart on the switch showing on tv.
Playing Mario Kart 8 on the Switch

At 4pm her two friends arrived and I had food cooking for them so they could have a hot meal that I served around 4.45pm. It was mostly chicken strips and pizza, but they had lots of snacks too. And cake!

kids sitting around a table eating party food
food time

The Game

Being 12, Boo is way too old for party games and activities. So, we played a game that I had been gifted and will be reviewing soon. It’s called Jibbergiggle and is based on silly words like ‘Awooga’ and ‘Funkay Monkay.’ It’s so simple to play and causes lots of side splitting laughter!

kids and adult sitting around the table playing a card game
Playing Jibbergiggle

Cake

Finally it was time to light the candles on the cake and sing Happy Birthday to Boo. Then she blew out the candles and made her wish. The children were all served a piece of cake, and there was extra for them to take home to their siblings.

Boo blowing out the candles on her cake
Make a Wish

Happy birthday to my funny, sweet, kind, caring and beautiful little girl Boo.

I used a photo of Boo and her friends on her birthday for My Sunday Photo.

The Ordinary Moments
Shank You Very Much

Christmas Presents – Did We Do Well?

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Christmas is over and the excitement has waned. All those weeks and months of planning and making sure you got the right presents for the kids and now is the time when you see if you bought them the right things.

I’m going to run through a few of my kids presents and let you knew whether they were a hit or a miss.

Hatchimals – 

Shortly after their release they were sold out everywhere. That’s when my girls decided they really, really had to have one for Christmas! I hunted everywhere but I refused to pay the ridiculously high prices that were being asked on Ebay. To me, they were expensive at £60-£65 and I really wasn’t prepared to pay any more. Then Big Sister came to the rescue. She had a friend in Germany who said they were on the shelves over there and could pick up a couple easily. So she did and posted them on…and my total cost for two, including one special edition Owlicorn for a total of £117, including postage! Bargain!

Christmas Day – I’d told the girls that it was really hard to buy them and that they should not expect them and had given them lots of options for other toys. When they opened them they were surprised, but I think they were so resigned to not getting them that their excitement had waned a little. They really couldn’t wait to hatch them and the whole family waited with bated breath while they twirled and pecked and hatched their way out. Half an hour later they were discarded while they played with their other toys.

We bought our daughter's Hatchimals for Christmas, but were they a hit or a miss?

They have played with them on and off since Christmas but they have really not been as enamoured with them as I thought they would be.

Plus points – they are incredibly cute and as a lover of interactive toys I really like these little critters.
Cons – They are smaller than I expected and can be really noisy, thank goodness for the off button!

Race Track –

The Little Man’s main present was a Fast Lane Race Track..yes, 10 metres of it! It was chosen by his Dad who insisted that it would be the perfect present and he would love it. I’m not sure if he meant the Little Man would love or he would but I went ahead and bought it at Toys R Us for just under £50.  

Christmas Day – 

We decided not to set this up Christmas Day as we didn’t have time or space, I have to admit that the Little Man wasn’t overly excited when he opened it.
We did set it up on Boxing Day though and everyone had loads and loads of fun playing with it.
We even made a little video.

Plus Points – really great fun and gets everybody playing, it’s even fun watching so no problems so far with waiting for a turn, but only two can play at a time.
Cons – It took an hour to set up first time but we have managed to pack away so that it can be set up in 10 minutes or so, it’s still waiting time though and no waiting time is good for a 6 yr old. Also, it’s HUGE, it takes up so much room. It’s a good job we have a large living room, it’s needed. The track is over 2 metres wide when set up.

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I like to buy some art or craft activities for Christmas so here are my opinions on two of the products I bought the girls.

IDO3D –

Star said she wanted a 3D pen and I saw this set in Smyths for just £14.99. I didn’t really expect much for the price and to be honest you don’t really get much.

Christmas Day – 

Star was thrilled to receive it and couldn’t wait to get started. In fact she started at a time that I was busy doing something else and was unable to help her. She ended up with a mess.
We tried again later and got the pens working and even ended up with a pony design. It’s not easy to work though and it’s not really 3D, you just make the different parts and then stick them together to make something 3D
Plus Points – It’s cheap and a nice gift. It is fun once you get started and the results are really unusual.
Cons – you can draw 3D using the pen and ultra violet light but it’s really difficult and there are no instructions on how to do this. The given instructions are very poor and as I said, you are told to make the pieces then stick them together to make something 3D, not quite what we were expecting. Also, it’s incredibly sticky and never really dries properly. The ultra violet light takes forever to dry the work and also keeps falling off the pen. 

Gel A Peel-

Boo wanted to make gel accessories like the advert on tv so I bought her a Gel A Peel Accessory 3 pack for £14.99.

Christmas Day – 

Boo was excited opening her present and like Star wanted to make things straight away. It was really easy to understand though and she soon made two bracelets, one for me and one for her. They took forever to dry but when they did we put on our bracelets. By the end of the day they were both broken.
Plus Points – Very easy to use, just take the cap off put on the nozzle and squirt away. There are lots of templates to choose from in the pack and the gel seems to last quite a long time.
Cons – You have to wait a long time for your creations to dry, I’m not sure they ever stop feeling sticky. They are very easy to break, although you can use the pens to repair them if they do, it’s often not worth it. 

Lego Dimensions – 

This was a present for all three kids and we had decided on getting it when we went to Brick Live last September. I bought the Starter kit and Big Brother and Big Sister bought lots of expansion packs for all of them.

Christmas Day – 

It was a big hit when opened and they were all excited about the packs they received to go with it. They had some of their favourite characters from Adventure Time and Ninjago. The game was played by everyone on Christmas Day and lots of fun was had.

Plus Points – We got an offer on the starter pack and only paid £35, they are usually around £55. The game was loved by all and everyone enjoyed playing it. It will keep on being fun as we buy new expansion packs throughout the year, (Can’t wait to get Sonic.) It was easy to get into and although some parts were a little difficult the kids all worked together to figure it out (yes the  big kids too!) There is the fun option of just messing around too which the younger ones love doing.
Cons – It’s hard to find cons as we all loved it so much, even making the lego pieces to play it. The instructions for making the pieces are in the game which is not really a con, but the kids were a little impatient. The expansion packs can be a little expensive and I already have a long list of the ones we want.
Other presents included board games like Operation, Connect4, Word Search, Frustration and Pie Face which have all been lots of fun. (although, I think Pie Face is a waste of money and has very short fun value, i.e. once you’ve played it then there is not much desire to play again, unless you get some new victims  Players.) Board games are a necessity for Christmas and the kids will play them over and over throughout the year.
What did you get your kids for Christmas? What were their favourite presents? 
RachelSwirl

Fifty

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Fifty! All year that number has been haunting me, but there is no turning back now. I look into the mirror and it’s a 50 year old woman that’s looking back at me.

I don’t feel 50, I’m still stuck somewhere between my late 30s and early 40s. The kids really do keep me feeling younger. The other ‘older’ women picking up kids from reception class are generally grandmothers not mothers.

I did think about having a party to celebrate my Big Birthday, but I knew I’d end up doing all the work and I didn’t fancy that. I don’t mind doing it for others but I wouldn’t have enjoyed doing it for myself. So I though about a night out, but then I got plagued by illness so I have postponed until I’m feeling better. I have the dates booked so no worries, and not long to wait.

So, how did the day go?

Well, I did feel really spoilt by my friends and family.

I woke up to some lovely cards and presents.

I was really surprised by some of them, and may have been feeling a little emotional when I opened the very last book ever written by the late great Terry Pratchett.

My eldest Daughter brought me a Sat Nav to help me stop getting lost (along with lots of other gifts, I’m sure she gets paid too much!) and my son bought me lots of chocolates (And I mean LOTS) and my gorgeous new babies Doc and Marty my Roborovski hamsters. Here’s a sneaky peak, but I’ll be posting more about them soon. They are so cute, so tiny and so fast!

Then while we were waiting for our takeaway to be delivered, you can’t cook on your birthday, I had these delivered from my lovely online friends. They are beautiful.

Of course after dinner there was cake, made by Boo and Dad. They did a real good job too!
I’ve decided that being fifty is not so bad. We all have to get older, there is nothing you can do about it so why fret.  

Christmas Wish List for Toddlers

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Do you have a toddler, or do you need a present idea for a toddler? Then Kiddicare is the place to go. Here are their top ten toys for toddlers;

  1. Sunny Safari Rocking Zebra – bright and cheerful with lots of colours and textures, suitable from 18 months onwards. Encourage physical development and balance while having lots of fun. £39.99
  2. Buzzing Brains Alphabet Teaching Frame – for ages 2 plus, teaches, alphabet, letters and colours. £12.99 
  3. Buzzing Brains Wooden Building Blocks – loads of shapes, colours and sizes for hours of fun while learning about problem solving. 12 months plus. £11.99
  4. Buzzing Brains Click Clack Track – encourages turn taking as the children race four colourful cars down the click clack track. 12 months plus. £12.99
  5. Buzzing Brains Parking Garage – Great for imaginative play and driving adventures, what little boy wouldn’t love a colourful garage like this on Christmas morning. 3 years plus. £39.99
  6. Buzzing Brains 2 in 1 Magnetic Art Case – two sided, one magnetic one a pegboard. Lots of creative learning and fun, and it folds away neatly when not in play. 3 plus years, £19.99
  7. Buzzing Brains Activity Table – lots of features on this table top activity centre. 12 months plus £29.99
  8. Buzzing Brains Rockstar Keyboard and Stool – lots of fun with a light up keyboard, microphone and demo tunes to play. A big favourites with the little superstars. 3 plus years. £29.99
  9. Buzzing Brains Dolls House – encourages imaginative play and sharing. It comes with it’s own furniture and family to play with. 3 years plus. £44.99
  10. Buzzing Brains Deluxe Big Kitchen – A large kitchen to encourage children to play together. Features a refrigerator, freezer, microwave, oven and sink. 3 years plus £149.99

All of these fabulous toys are available in Kiddicares 3 for 2 offer which is available on all toys in the Buzzing Brains, Safari and Woodland ranges. The 342 promotions runs from 5th November to 22 nd December inclusive, in-store, online and via the mobile app.

I’m a big fan of Christmas lists, whether they are gifts for adults or children, food or things to do in time for the celebrations. So I’m creating a linky for everyone to share their own lists. So if you’ve written a list for Christmas do come and join in, it will be open until midnight on Christmas Eve. Have fun!