Magical Disney bedroom ideas

We currently live in a 2 bedroom house. To help make it feel not so cramped the dining room is a dining room and toy room combined. Thankfully the dining room is big enough to accommodate both uses.

With our home only having 2 bedrooms the boys have to share a bedroom. The bedroom is a large room so both of their beds fit in with ease along with bedroom furniture for their clothing and a few toy boxes. Even with all the bedroom furniture they also have plenty of room to play, snuggle up to read a book or watch a show on the tablet.

One of the downsides of the boys sharing a bedroom especially as they have an age gap of 4 years is that they want their bedroom decorated differently. Until now we have decorated their section of the bedroom to their likes so the room is split with 2 different decors.

Now that Jelly Bean is 2 he is outgrowing his nursery style jungle animals decor so we have been thinking about redecorating. With that in mind I have been trying to think of a theme that would suit both of the boys so that the room is no longer split with 2 opposing themes.

Disney to the rescue!!

Learn more about baby CPR with St John Ambulance and Tesco

Last week I shared about St John Ambulance teaming up with Tesco to give away CPR babygrow in a fantastic campaign to raise awareness of baby CPR.

Whilst the event at selected Tesco stores where baby CPR was being demonstrated and the #CPRbabygrow was being given to parents has passed, St John Ambulance are giving away baby CPR babygrows via their facebook page (ends 19th October 2016).

As I think learning first aid and having knowledge of CPR and what to do when someone is choking, especially little ones as my baby choking is one of nightmares which I hope never comes true, I wanted to share with you a few of the video's that St John Ambulance have created to raise awareness and inform people on what to do when a baby is choking and how to perform baby CPR.

Tips for cleaning with kids.

Pre-kids keeping the house clean, tidy and clutter free was a doddle. Since having kids keeping the house clean and reasonably tidy is no longer child's play. Now that we have 2 kids it has become an even harder task. Not only do we have masses of toys everywhere for Bug but was now also have Jelly Bean's toys too along with baby equipment.

With so much kid stuff everywhere and their ability to be like a tornado of destruction as they turn a room upside down and full of mess quicker than I can clean it – seriously they seem to have superhero powers of getting every last toy out of storage in a blink of an eye – cleaning the house and keeping the level of tidiness to a passable level is a huge chore.

Whilst my house is most definitely lived in and far from being a show home (I like to think the mess shows the kids are making memories) I have found a few ways to make keeping the mess to a minimum and make cleaning the house a little bit easier when you have kids.

Random Acts of Kindness – saying thank you with Tesco Flowers.

Whilst I do love birthdays and Christmas for gift giving, I am a big believer in showing thanks and love to people throughout the year. Showing someone gratitude, kindness and love is a lovely gesture and whether it is through gifts or kind actions being kind, thankful and loving is in my opinion a beautiful way to live your life.

Not only does the act of being kind and loving to family, friends and strangers who have touched your life make the recipient of the random act of kindness feel happy and appreciated but showing you care and are thankful also makes you feel happy and good too.

In the busy world we live in it can be easy to overlook showing gratitude or forget to make the effort to show loved ones and strangers we care. Whilst I do like to show my thanks and love to others on a regular basis through kind actions (helping, complimenting and supporting) and small surprise gifts or treats, I do welcome any excuse to show kindness and gratitude to others.

So when Tesco Flowers recently got in touch with me about their exciting Random Acts of Kindness campaign I just knew this was a campaign I had to get involved with.

Toy shopping for Christmas gifts at Tesco.

* I am a member of the Collective Bias® Social Fabric® community. This #shop has been compensated by CollectiveBias, Inc and its advertiser. All words and opinions are my own. #CollectiveBias *

I’ve been thinking about Christmas for a while now. To try to make sure things don’t get too hectic in the last couple of weeks before Christmas I have been trying to get organised. I have been buying and wrapping gifts earlier and preparing the Christmas crafts and activities I want to do with the children so that I am prepared and not panicked about last minute shopping and Christmas tasks. My hope is that if I am prepared earlier I can simply enjoy the festivities rather than worry about what else from a long to-do-list needs doing.

Healthy lunchboxes with Capri Sun Fruit Crush juice drink - #CapriSunSchool

* I am a member of the Collective Bias® Social Fabric® community. This #CapriSunSchool #shop has been compensated by #CollectiveBias and its advertiser. All words and opinions are my own *

With Bug now in school part-time, soon to be full-time, I have started thinking about lunchbox ideas so that when the time comes for him to have packed lunches at school he will have healthy lunchboxes and school compliant juice drinks to keep him well fed, energised and refreshed for busy, fun days learning at school.

Summer sales saving money.

Most savvy saving families like us will have already scoured the shops or be planning to hit the shops to snap up some bargains and clothes for their little ones during the mid-season sales.

We recently snapped up some new clothes for Bug at bargain prices at Tesco in their clothing sale.  The ongoing final clearance clothing sale at Tesco with up to 50% off on selected items both in-store and online has an array of children’s, women’s and men’s clothing on offer.

Other supermarkets also have clothing sales running at the moment.  George at Asda has an up to half price sale on clothing - I just wish I could get to an Asda store to see what items are on sale in-store as the items I fancy for Bug online are no longer available in his size.  Morrisons have a summer sale on their Nutmeg range of clothing with selected lines on sale in-store only – having never had a chance to try the Nutmeg clothing due to no local Morrisons stores stocking the Nutmeg range of clothing I wish I was able to snap up an item or two of clothing for Bug during the Nutmeg sale as their clothes look adorable and colourful.  Sainsbury’s also has a sale on the Sainsbury's Tu range of clothing with saving of up to half prices on offer in-store only.

New clothes for Bug at bargain prices.

Being a family on a tight budget and watching our spending with a #SpendingDiary I am always on lookout for discounts and offers on products we need to help us save money.

One of the benefits of living in a town is that I can snap up bargains and browse the sales a lot easier than when we were living in the sticks, miles away from the shops.

As Bug is growing fast there is always the need to update his wardrobe which can be very costly.

Needing to get him some new clothes yet having limited funds I was delighted to see some cute t-shirts in Bug's size on sale at Tesco the other day.

Father's Day gift guide.

Even though Father’s Day is fast approaching there is still time left to get the dad in your life a lovely gift to show how much you love and appreciate him.  Father’s Day gifts can be found in most high-street shops, supermarkets and online stores with a huge range of gifts available at a variety of prices to suit all tastes and budgets. 

Whilst we love homemade gifts we are also fans of the lovely Father’s Day gifts available on the market to purchase.  After looking at lots of Father’s Day gifts for Bug to find his daddy the perfect gift we have seen lots of lovely gifts perfect for Father’s Day.  From all the lovely gifts we have seen we have hand-picked some of our favourite Father’s Day gifts to include in this last minute Father’s Day gift guide.

Tesco

Braun cruZer 6 Precision 2-in-1 Trimmer with Gillette Skin Care Gift Pack

This portable 2-in-1 trimmer is the perfect gift for dad’s who want to maintain their facial hair and pamper their skin with the Gillette Skin Care gift pack which includes a Cleansing Thermal Face Scrub and an Energising and Moisturising Lotion.  The Braun cruZer 6 Precision 2-in-1 Trimmer with Gillette Skin Care Gift Pack is currently available at Tesco at the fabulous discounted price of £17.50 (was £34.99).

Save money with Tesco Baby Event.

Alongside the joy, laughter, magical moments and love that parenthood brings often experienced is the costly expense of raising children.  From when children are mere tiny bundles of love as babies then all the way through toddlerhood, childhood and into the teenage years the cost of raising children is a continuous ever increasing cost.  Even though the hardship of a continuous costly expense can be difficult for parents to deal with the rewards of being a parent and seeing your baby grow and go through childhood is priceless.

Even though the cost of having a child is demanding on our bank balance Bug is worth every penny.  As a mum to try and ease the financial burden and save money I try and be savvy with our finances; buying essentials when on offer at a better price than normal, shopping around for the best price, snapping up toys and clothes when on sale, using money off coupons, making use of customer advantage schemes just as Tesco Clubcard and Boots Advantage Card and taking advantage of offers from Parent and Toddler Clubs that I signed up to.  Whilst I do all of the above I also make sure to only buy what is needed and not buy just because it is a bargain price…...it is only a bargain and money saving if I need it or would have bought it anyway. 

Even before Bug was born I found a great way to save money and pick up bargains when shopping for essential baby products was to make use of promotional Baby and Toddler Events at stores.  Over the years I have managed to get some major bargains on everyday products that we needed for Bug when he was a baby and then toddler products for him when he progressed into toddlerhood, getting things we needed at bargain prices at Baby and Toddler Events.

With the expensive aftermath of Christmas and New Year plus perhaps a little too much spending in the New Year Sales taking a huge chunk out of most people’s bank balances, leaving the family budget very tight and shopping budgets reigned in saving money during the first few months of the New Year is extremely helpful.

Thankfully for parents who have to fork out money on baby basics and toddler essentials Tesco have been offering brilliant offers and discounts on baby and toddler products during the first Tesco Baby Event of 2014.

Every Little Helps

Over the years I have saved lots of money using my Tesco Clubcard points to get various things for nothing; they have paid for my RAC membership, bought me tickets to a few attractions on Lee’s and mine’s first little holiday together in the UK and most useful of all in the last couple of years they have helped get baby products. 

Not long after I found out I was pregnant with little man Tesco did their Summer Clubcard Exchange where the value of your clubcard points were double up, for example £5 worth of points was doubled giving you £10 voucher to use on selected departments.  

Bouncing, Spinning Fun!!

One of the presents that Tristan got from mummy and daddy for his 1^st birthday was a Fisher Price Bounce and Spin Zebra and he loves it!  He has a Fisher Price Rainforest Jumparoo and has loved that from the first day we got it for him and I hoped he would like the bounce and spin zebra too.  So far the cute little zebra is a huge hit too!!