Apparently and other stuff

.. when I have a lie in its ok for me to be woken up by t'husband! (note - if he has a lie in I leave him!)

...if you leave the washing up long enough it grows things and then t'husband does it!!!

...tis ok for my body to decide that seeing as I'm going to be mega busy it should throw a spanner into the works and bring me down with a cold!!!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

To cheer myself up last night I started looking at places to go on holiday - we're thinking Yorkshire this year - possibly the moors. But to do that we need to get a newer tent, smaller and possibly warmer, I've seen one here but that'll have to depend on finances, may have to ebay one! Also, there doesn't seem to be many campsites around these days. Going camping for nearly every holiday as a kid, I wonder how my parents planned it, seeing as it was pre internet and all. Anyway if you know the area, and have suggestions let me know.

Anyway better go, the washing up may not take him that long!!!

BNM

PS Thank you for the kind comments on the last blogpost, it is nice to hear that I'm not the only one feeling the strain.

All work and no play

.. turns me into a grouchy person.

So sorry I haven't been blogging random ramblings recently but it is mega hectic at work, so that by the time I get home I am pooped and impatient.

It is going to get worse before it gets better - AAAGHHH

This working mum lark is not as easy as people think it is - especially as Neb has managed to secure weekend work through February so that means that after a knackering week I then have to turn off grouchy and turn off happy mum! Car managed to change the mood earlier by asking me to "Happy Mummy please...". This and leaving her playing upstairs quietly (which did mean she had painted her face) changed my mood.

But I am so tired, and when I come home I don't want to be doing the tidying, cooking and other blah blah stuff that needs to be done. But, as nice as Neb has been recently (by buying me a book and the Robbie Williams CD) he just doesn't seem to get that it would be nice if I didn't have to ask him to do it all the time.. ah well, one of these days he may get an epiphany.

Anyway if you don't hear that much from me in the next month, I do apologise. I will try and blog when the feeling comes and  I apologise if they are random but hey its gonna be one of those months.

BNM

PS You still have time to enter the Grandpa in my Pocket DVD competition   which closes tomorrow as long as your not reading this on Monday!!

 

DUPLO - a review

You must have all noticed by now the lovely badge that I have on the top left of my blog - you haven't well go on look - there no, up a bit.

Anyway we at the BNM household were asked last year whether we would like to be DUPLO experts and as Car is always trying to steal Bel's Lego we thought why not.

So, we were sent the two lovely sets below -

Which if you can't tell from my lovely picture of the boxes are the:

Farm Nursery  and the Big Tractor. They are both lovely packs with the farm nursery also including lots of animals,even though Neb couldn't work out what the horse was for ages. I mean it looks like a horse doesn't it!
Car's reaction to the Duplo was fantastic. Luckily she had been given a big box of Duplo for Christmas from my godmother.  So the Farm sets worked well with the town that she made out of this. Also, being a girl she just doesn't use Duplo as you and I may use it - Oh no, we have Duplo shops (where she sells it too you ), Dolly plays Duplo (where the Duplo people are the dolly's babies!). She even saw the website with me just now and what I got was "Look, Duplo Them and them and them". Me thinks that she has caught the building bug!
Before you all think poor Bel, don't worry about it - her Lego fits on the Duplo so the girls play together nicely without arguments.

So, if you need a present for anyone, you can look no further than Duplo - it can be played with in many ways!

BNM

This product has been sent to us as part of being a Duplo Expert. The product was therefore reviewed and all opinions given about the product are mine.

Grandpa in my pocket - REVIEW AND COMPETITION

Did you know that over three generations of our family have now watched one of the stars of this show on TV. I think Neb's mum may even have had a small crush on him at one points. So, who am I talking about - well it's James Bolam - now starring in Grandpa in my pocket. Grandpa in my pocket is currently being showed on Cbeebies and the new DVD of the series is available from all good retailers from the 7th February:

So, what do the two girls of the BNM household think of this DVD, well Car jumped with joy when I said that we had it while Bel said she'd give me an answer at the end. And the result - well Car will watch it again and again and "loves granpa mummy" while Bel being the older girl thinks its "quite good actually"!

Personally, I love the show, seeing Grandpa ride on Gordon the toy seagull, after shrinking is very funny.  For those of you who haven't seen it - Grandpa can shrink when he puts on his magic cap. He then gets up to a load of mischief while helping Jason.I think its lovely to see a program which celebrates the fun that grandparents and grandchildren have. The girls have even asked their grandpa if he shrinks!

PRIZE ALERT

Now I've been very lucky to get a copy of the new DVD for one of you lovely readers to win as a prize and before you all shout out "me, me, me" there are some terms :

This competition is open to UK residents 18 years and over only

To enter the competition please answer the following question in the comment section below "How does Grandpa fit into Jason's pocket"

The winner will be drawn by random from the correct answers. The prize winner will be contacted by myself and the prize will be sent out directly from the PR company. No cash alternative will be offered. The prize will be sent within 28 days. If the prize winner cannot be contacted within 3 days then a redraw will take place. This competition will end on 30th January 2011.

Win the NEW Grandpa in my Pocket DVD!

We have a Grandpa in my Pocket DVD to give away to our readers! The NEW, Mr Marvelloso’s Magic Tricks, features Grandpa (played by James Bolam) and grandson Jason getting into even more magical mayhem than ever!

Jason lives with his parents, sister Jemima, dog and Grandpa in the beautiful seaside town of Sunnysands. Everyone thinks that Grandpa likes to spend all his time sat quietly in the armchair, but only Jason knows the truth about Grandpa’s magic shrinking cap. When Grandpa wears the magic cap, he becomes small enough to fit into Jason’s pocket and adventure is always sure to follow!

In Mr Marvelloso’s Magic Tricks, the adventurous duo team up to save Jemima’s party. Mr Marvelloso, the local magician is booked to perform, but when he turns out to be grumpy and not very good at the magic tricks, the party looks sure to be a disaster. It’s time for Grandpa to step in, put on his magic shrinking cap and try a little magic of his own!  Can Grandpa and Jason turn the magic show into a success?

Grandpa in my Pocket, Volume 3: Mr Marvelloso’s Magic Tricks will be available nationwide from all good retailers from 7th February 2011. Suitable for children aged 4 – 6, RRP £7.99

© 2011 Warner Bros. Ent. All Rights Reserved.

So what you waiting for, enter below and a DVD could be winging its way to you!

BNM

I have been sent this product to review and therefore all views of the dvd given in the review are my own views.

Why I no longer hate shaving!! Ask Bluebeard.... A REVIEW

Now, before you all go - ah so she's really a man - let me explain something.

I hate shaving my legs and my arm pits, and when I dare - anything else form the waist down (you know what I mean) so what has made me change my mind.

Well , recently I was contacted by a very nice man (*waves and big apologies) who asked whether I'd like to try something that even though has been marketed for men is being stolen by their wives/girlfriends. Now as I always steal Neb's razor to do my legs I thought nothing wrong with that - so I agreed to try it!

So what is it - well this:

Yes , its Bluebeard's Revenge a new shaving cream which has been marketed at men with heavy hair growth and so contains 'Decelerin' which actually reduces hair growth every time its used. So, the marketing as you can imagine has been aimed at men. It even has a no women allowed sign on box.

You can imagine their surprise then when they noticed that many women were buying it not for their partners but for themselves, hijacking the "World's Manliest Shaving Product" (which should probably be now known as the "Worlds Womanliest Shaving Product!")

So what did I think, well after the shock of realising I had to put it on by brush (no idea how to use a shaving brush so that was an experience!!). So after dumping the brush carefully into the cream (which does smell lovely!) I managed to lather up with no problem. So much easier than using that horrible gel shaving foam which tends to go everywhere. I then borrowed stole my husbands razor and shaving was no problem - I even managed not to nick myself! The razor glided over the cream and even though the smell is on the manly side I think I can cope with it.

 I've been using this now for the last couple of months and does it work - well the hair growth is getting less so to you all men and women out there. Why not try it too!

If you do want to try it, it is sold at The Shaving Stack where it retails at £14.99.

BNM

This product was sent to me to review and all opinions given in this review are my own.

Our weekend

So after the miserable start to Saturday morning, our weekend has gone well.

Neb managed to climb out of bed on Saturday morning to go and help his builder mate and then didn't return until 5 that evening. So after moaning at the kids what did I do. Well I managed to quieten Bel by listening to her pleadings of COMPUTER mummy.. so off she went for her Club Penguin fix. I then demolished the washing up and within the half hour had got the kids their lunch.

After lunch we did some baking, (as you could see from yesterday's Silent Sunday post). The girls enjoyed this immensely even if me and Bel had to stop Car from licking the spoon at all times. Yes, she even licked marg off the spoon!! Cakes in the oven, the girls were then kept busy with some colouring in. Thankfully I knew of a website that had a plane colour by numbers picture which I could print off. Bel had a great go at it while Car decided that the plane was boring and so I had to download some Peppa Pig printouts for her

Bel loved the colour by numbers and if you were going on holiday or in the car this would be a lovely activity to take with you, especially as more downloads are being made avaialble over the coming weeks.







(Hint: if you are going anywhere over half term and driving far in the car then invest in one of those lap trays- they're great for giving a flat surface for colouring in!)

Unfortunately while the girls were colouring in, I was tweeting and asking for help with glace icing and managed to burn three of the fairy cakes! We then tried to make pink icing but with Car's help we made red. I put the icing on the cakes and the girls decorated them with silver balls and chocolate chips. So ladybird cakes made I settled the girls down for some Tom and Jerry while I got on with making Spaghetti Bolognese for supper. I won't bore you with my recipe (unless you do want it let me know) but needless to say there's not much left especially after Car announced I love pghetti, lasne and macaroni mummy!

Domestic disaster part two struck me when making the spaghetti as I managed to get the pasta out of the cupboard and knock the food colouring out the same time. One red floor, hands and feet later and I'd mangaed to clean up!! By yesterday morning my hands have lost the red stain but I still have a red toe!!

Yesterday, we had a quiet day, CP time for Bel again, jigsaw puzzles for Car, Laundry and Internet shopping for me and work for Neb. I hope you all had a fabulous weekend too.

Right I better get going and do some work!

BNM

Pucker Up!

 

 

Image: Salvatore Vuono / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Last night at bedtime, Car told me that I had to kiss her in the following ways:

1) A butterfly kiss - this is when you flutter your eyelashes closely to her cheek

2) A Eskimo kiss -  rubbing noses

3) A fishy kiss - this is when you make that funny poppy noise with your mouth close to hers!!!

4) A stuck kiss - this is a kiss on the lips,where neither person are allowed to move their lips away for a long time!!

5) A rubby kiss - this kiss is apparently what Mummy and Daddy give each other!  Kiss each other while moving your head!

6) A lick and kiss - this is a kiss which then turns into Car licking your face instead!!

7) A normal kiss - peck on lips.


Car then thanked me and said that she loved having loads of kisses and that she had loads to keep and give. I know that I should hold on to these kisses that I get now because there will come a time when she won't be so eager to give or get (well not from her Mummy anyway!)


BNM

Silent Sunday - the best part of cake making

Early to bed, early to rise / Late to bed, lie in possible?

... would be a miracle wouldn't it.

Last night, I managed not to fall asleep amid my own dribble on the sofa and stayed up until 1am. And then I got up at 7am! Is 6 hours sleep enough? Probably not but apparently I don't need the sleep because I am mum, I am house cleaner, I am money bringer, I am wife.... BOLLOCKS to that. I have a snotty nose, the washing up needs doing, the washing needs doing, the house needs a clean, I need a clean, kids need dressing and I want to sleep.
I thought I'd fed and watered the two terrors, but I've just had demands of I'm hungry from Car (seems to be her new 'in' phrase at the moment) so I will have to get up and make more breakfast soon (they have had bowl of cereal, and bowl of yogurt already but apparently not enough).
I know that apparently we are in a partnership and he does pull is weight (well sometimes) but am so fed up of the getting up everyday with the kids. And then its only when I moan and really moan does he get up with them. Its not hard mate, I do it all the time. And it shouldn't be a chore they're your kids too!!

I've just realised that this is a bit of a rant and am so sorry about that. I will get better in a minute when I've had my coffee.

Hope your weekend has a better start than mine. I am going to stop feeling sorry for myself in a minute and go storm it all. Then I will make him get up and we will do a fun thing whether he likes it or not!!!

BNM

I've been tagged

Hello, thanks to Mad Life I've recently been tagged in a new meme. Now these seem to have fallen out of favour recently as I haven't received anything in a while. Anyway the award/meme I've been given is :

The rules of this award is to tell you 7 things about myself, now I realise that I've in the past told you lots of things about myself  quite a few times, so its very hard thinking of some new and interesting things about myself so this will be a hard challenge:

1)  Though not a fit person (I hate the thought of doing aerobics, gym or anything like that) I am taking part in the Health and Safety initiative at work hoping to Walk the World in a month. (it will apparently take 48,800,000 steps to walk around the world!)

2) I graduated from the same university as Caroline Aherne, Phil Redmond and John Lennon! Though not at the same time as them!! (Tedious link 1)

3)  My husbands grandmother is a real life Romany and has once asked if she could read my palm. (She doesn't live in a caravan though!)

4) My legs were once compared to Julia Robert's legs in Pretty Woman. ( I have since found out that her legs weren't actually hers but a body double so am a tad disappointed!)

5) I love to smell spell. I wish I could enter a spelling bee (do you think its too late?). Please note that my spelling only happens out loud and therefore not when I'm typing blog posts which still have to get spellchecked!

6) I love colouring in and in a quite moment I will (if the kids let me) finish off their colouring books!!

7) I have had a paper published in Nature (along with others!!)

So are you happy to have heard those interesting things?

Instead of passing this on to others I've decided to let you add an interesting fact about yourself in the comments below!!

BNM


PS If you have an android phone or an iPhone then don't forget you can tag my blog to read at your leisure by scanning the new doodad on the side there. Thanks to Nickie @ Typecast for sharing the secret of the random doodad with us all

Books - 1 down...

So, as you all know one of my many challenges to myself is to (try) and read more books by the time I'm 40.

I have started and to be honest am quite disappointed in my first choice.

I have finished "Catcher in the Rye" and even though it is the book that was labelled as controversial and full of teenage angst, I found it quite boring. I won't go into the details of the book here (just in case you want to read it) but its the story of Holden Caulfield, a young boy who has been expelled from yet another school.

I think if I'd read the book when I was younger, it may have had more impact on me - but now - its a no. At least I can say I've read it now - one less book to do. I did though manage to catch a film the other night which featured the book. The film (Conspiracy Theory) was better!

The good thing about not liking this book though is that Neb took pity on me and bought me a new one to read which is fantastic!!

So, I am now in the middle of this book:

And even though its not on the list - I'm loving it!!

BNM

What's in a name?

A name is defined as according to the Chambers Free Online English Dictionary :

 name noun 1 a word or words by which an individual person, place or thing is identified and referred to 

Now if you follow my blog you will see that last week was delurk week (thank you to everyone that delurked!) and while reading the comments received I was shocked to see this comment (you'll have to click it to make it big):

I can say though that the person who left this comment has since tweeted me and explained that she wasn't trying to offend it was just her sense of humour!


After getting offended I did realise that (after checking my stats) many people do come here to look for porn! I am sorry to disappoint you and to those who don't know I shall once again tell you why I gave myself this name.


I had been reading some blogs for a time and realised that having a catchy name would pull readers back time and time again, like I was pulled back to the blogs that I started to read. So there I was about to plunge into (not like that) the unknown world of blogging and I realised that I needed a name. Now I may ( as I mentioned here) have been listening to the radio and heard bare naked ladies (but I may not have been soo can't remember that far back now!), and then my brain started to work in mysterious ways (the way it tends to do) and thought hmm barenakedmummy.
Now to me the bare naked bits aren't about showing my flesh to anyone but about baring my all, my feeling, my inner thoughts and letting myself be 'naked' and not hide anything. 

I can see that my name may be controversial but hey I have red hair and am Welsh - do you need any more explanations!


As Gloria said  "I am what I am"

I am what I am
I am my own special creation -  my dad always said I was 'special'
So come take a look  - but I won't be naked unless this is what you want to see
Give me the hook or the ovation - follow me
It's my world
That I want to have a little pride in
My world
And it's not a place I have to hide in - I'm so not hiding here!!
Life's not worth a damn
Till you can say
I am what I am -  which is Barenakedmummy or BNM!

I shall leave you now with Gloria's dulcet tones and hope that I haven't upset you with my non-nakedness!



BNM

Delurk, Delurk,

Whilst reading the many blogs I subscribe to this morning (I am working honest!) I found this

So I'm borrowing stealing  it. (Thanks Kelly @ A place of my own)

I have according to my blogger dashboard 109 followers and according to google reader 119 subscribers so if you are one of these then please say Hi, Hello, Chow, Bonjour, etc.

I would love to see you comment on my new fandangled disqus commenting system below. And if you are a regular here, tell me do you like it. I find it easier to comment back to you individually on it, something I will do more of I promise!

So anyway, this week is officially delurk week - SIMPLES!

Me, Myself and I

The lovely J "Notes" over at Notes to Self Plus Two (and the need for red shoes) has cleverly invented a new blog thingy bob which will help us bloggers (whether Mummy or otherwise) to blog about ourselves and strengthen our hold on "me".

The rules of her new blog linky are as follows:

How does it work? Fridays I will post a “me” pondering question. Weekends are for pondering. Mondays I will come back with the Linky thing (like this post). Post-tastic! The Linky will stay open all week, until the Friday when we start again. Last relevant post will also be available through the I ♥ Me badge on the right >>. More info is here.

So the question set on Friday for those who missed it was:

"What have you realised about you through your blogging?"

1) IT'S BETTER OUT THAN IN

I have realised that as the proverb says "A problem shared is a problem halved" and by joining the lovely world of mummy blogging, I feel that I am not the only one having a bad day, because kids/husband/work/housework (delete as appropriate) are probably annoying everybody.

2) I'M NEVER ALONE

As a working mother, a mother who doesn't drive, who is skint all the time and who never ( or very infrequently) goes out, I can feel very lonely. I sometimes feel that its me against the world but after engaging with other bloggers I feel stronger. These may be people whom I'll never meet but long may we continue to support each other.

3) I CAN WRITE
I never started blogging to write 'that book which is inside me' because honestly I don't think there is one. But after starting the blog, I do feel that I can actually write and that it does make sense. I may not be perfect when it comes to grammar ( but in my defence my first language is Welsh and grammar in Welsh is a whole different ball game!) but I believe that as long as you don't nit pick too much and take what is being said not how its said then we'll get along fine.

Why don't you pop over and read the other entry's or have a go yourself!!

BNM

Kids 1 Nigella 0

I was lucky enough to receive a belated Christmas present on Saturday when the inlaws came up (to celebrate Car's birthday).

It was the new Nigella book - Kitchen which is great and is the new cookbook from the recent tv series.

So after having a big old read of it -I decided last night to make the kids a recipe from it for their supper - namely the Crustless Pizza ( which is like a yorkshire pudding/pizza).

After slaving over the hot stove for 1/2 hr ( no, not really I made it then pushed it in) I bought it out for the girls. I had a sneak taste myself and thought it was delicious but after tasting a bit both girls said NO MUMMY! Bel even said "Don't worry mummy, we all make mistakes!" which I'm sure Nigella would have loved.

Moral of the story, (according to Neb) don't make kids something new for supper or in my opinion if at first you don't succeed, try and try again. I'm going to be doing the Spaghetti and Marmite next



BNM

Silent Sunday - see the starlings come

Start as you mean to go along

So, as you know I'm getting older and after looking up the BBC top 100 books of all time, I have started on my mission.


So today, I went to our local book shop and bought book no 15, Catcher in the Rye

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Catcher-Rye-J-Salinger/dp/0241950430/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1294422989&sr=8-1

 

 

 

 

I have no idea what the book is about so I will get back to you when I'm done.

If you've read it let me know if you like it!!!

BNM

Car is 3!!

You were two weeks late and born on a Monday and the same weight as your sister (9lb2!)

I'm happy in a way that you didn't arrive on your due date - although you still believe its Santa that's bringing you your presents and was upset when I explained he wasn't.

You are a different little girl to your sister, more bolshy, bossy and independent (a mini me!)

Without your dummy (quite often now!!) you are so talkative that we can not shut you up.

When we tell you, that you have strawberry blond hair - you cry and say no its Black!

There are so many funny things you say but those I'll save for another day

Penblwydd Hapus Cariad

Love Mummy

BNM

Bloggy lists

It seems that 2011 has seen us all venture our bloggy lists forward. I've seen bucket lists (things to do before you die), listographies, and  fantasy wish lists. Some people have also noted that they cannot live without lists!

As you know I've decided not to pick a resolution , as I'll never keep those anyway, normal resolutions seem to die within 1st week (I'm also very bad at giving up things for lent- no will power).

So I have hopes some of which are starting to work. We have started the weaning off dummy - and at the moment its going OK, days are getting there and when we conquer them I will seriously start on nights. I did mention the dummy fairy to her last night and she screamed and screamed at me, but as I know this technique is working with Holly at It's a Mummy's Life then I will persevere. (you can follow how she's getting on here)

Lists are generally something I keep for work (or when packing car before going away to make sure we have everything!). My lists in work tend to be long and never seem to lessen.

But do you know I think I should make a list - this year my dear husband Neb turns 40 and with my 40th then only 5 years away I am slowly compiling a list of things to do before I'm 40. He says I need to stop rubbing it in that I'm younger than him and that he knows he will be 40 this year but hey what else am I meant to do for fun.

So, my list is work in process but on it so far are:

·         Go and watch and bet on the dogs

·         Go and watch and bet on horse racing

·         Go to the ballet

·         Go to an ice hockey match

·         See a Shakespearean play at the RSC in Stratford

·         Learn to drive again (also known as actually pass my test this time)

·         Go and see a drag act

·         Have a spa weekend

·         Read all of the BBC Top 100 reads ( or just read more in general, I have read both the books I got given as Christmas presents!)

·         Have tea at the Ritz in London

·         Have dinner with husband at posh London restaurant like Ramsay's

·         Take part in a parachute jump!

·         Swim with sharks/dolphins

Is there anything that you would love to do before a certain milestone. Or anything you think I should do but  before anyone suggests I run the London Marathon, I think I'll leave that one to Emma over at Me, The Man and The Baby. If you pop over to her blog you can see how her training is getting along, do leave her a comment to egg her on!

Right must go and check out what Books I have read from the BBC's Top 100 list now... or actually do some work!!

BNM

When the lurgy hits - REVIEW

 So tomorrow is back to school and nursery - the kids can't wait.

But is it all good news, well apparently not as experts are warning that a surge in flu could be expected as everyone returns to school and work. And don't think that if you have a child under 18 you can get them vaccinated in your local chemist because they won't do it. Until the government decides that everyone can be vaccinated if they want it your scuppered! When Car had a chance to be vaccinated for Swine Flu I ummed and aahed and after taking medical advice from my dear friend Dr Wa I went ahead. Except I'd missed the slot and our surgery refused to give out anymore as the emergency phase was over!!

As you know from my post before Christmas, I came down with a cold (I can honestly say I don't think it was swine flu thanks!!), maybe this was to do with the fact that I'd finished work early and therefore even though I had loads to do at home, my body decided that because I was on a break to stop working!

Before leaving for the inlaws, I wasn't the only ill one, Car developed a high temperatures 2 days before going up.
So high that even Calpol didn't bring it down, so high that she came into our bed and was so hot to the touch that I kept on putting cold compresses on her body. My poor baby, it wasn't nice. But thankfully while looking for another medicine to give her I remembered seeing these videos (below) and gave her some Ibuprofen (Neurofen for Children).

Her temperature did finally come down (and go up, and down, and up!). Poor thing I think she may have been hit with something (don't know whether it was swine or seasonal flu). She managed opening presents on Christmas day, ate no dinner and went back to sleep.


Even in the night, she was having trouble breathing and though Neurofen kept her temperature down the only way we could desnuffle her was to plug in a Karvol vaporiser. Now I remember my mum opening Karvol and putting it on my bed when I was little but the vaporiser is even better.

It's easy to use and you just snap it into the plug and then plug it in. The pack comes with 3 refills and each refill lasts up to three nights. The vaporiser is also child-locked as when you lock the refill into place it locks the vaporiser preventing little hands from opening it. The vapour that it releases contains a blend of aromatic oils, cinnamon, menthol and pine. The smell is delicious and after having it on for 1 night the smell started to perfused around the house. And it works!!

 So if your child comes back from school tomorrow or Friday with the sniffles then you know what to do.

Karvol retails at £6.53 at Boots  whilst Neurofen for Children costs £3.56 (available in Strawberry and Orange!)

BNM 


This post is a review post as I was sent the Karvol to test out. All opinions given are my own!

Ebuzzing - make some money easily

So, Crimbo is over and the New Year has dawned. The VAT rise is upon us (well here in the UK anyway) and money will be tighter than usual. But don't worry about it because if you blog there is a fantastic way of making money.  I started using ebuzzing last year and with its help the buying of family Christmas presents was easier as I had some money saved especially for its use!
With ebuzzing you can earn money from your blog. So you like something, all you need to do then is recommend it to your readers and then you earn money... simples as a certain meerkat would say!! LIKE, RECOMMEND, EARN.
That doesn't sound hard and honestly it isn't - all you have to do is fill in the registration form. Then once registered, you can go to your own area and participate in campaigns. The campaigns all have briefs which you follow but that is it. If you’re interested in the campaign, read the brief and write the blog post.
So what kinda campaign would I love to write about, well anything food related would be great -I mean we can never have enough chocolate can we or wine or anything that makes life as a mum easier. Exclusive content on something relevant to you my readers!
I know sponsored posts aren't everyone's cup of tea and if you don't want to read them then you don't have to but to me they are a way of keeping the family happy!
Find out more on ebuzzing.co.uk




Sponsored Post

Well that's vat!!

So today is the day we were all dreading (not only is it the first day back in work for us working mothers) but its the day that the vat rises from 17.5 % to 20%.

Yes, its the governments way of trying to cut the debt levels of the country but what about us, what about the normal family.

According to the leader of the labour party, Ed Milliband, this will cost the average family £7.50 a week. Do you have £7.50 a week to pay on goods that would have once cost less. The only items not subject to VAT are food, children's clothing, newspapers and magazines but everything else is.

Fuel will probably be one of the first things that goes up. Having checked the prices of petrol in our local area the lowest priced is 123.90p, if this goes up by 20% we will be spending 126.54p on petrol!  (thank you to the BBC for their handy calculator) That would then cost us an average of £56 to fill the car with petrol! Seeing as we use the car quite a lot and a whole tank doesn't last us a month am scuppered, especially since the nightmare problem with the car that we had pre Christmas now means that we have to keep it quite full otherwise it happens again ( no, I don't know why either - has even stumped the garage!).

One of the worst things I've read today is that some companies may even increase they're prices to higher than the vat increase - to 5%! Some clothing companies have said that this may not only be because of the increase in VAT but due to the increase in cotton prices.

The coalition government state that if you're not raising VAT, where is the extra 13bn pounds of spending cuts coming from? The NHS? Schools?

But what of us, the average working family with one parent not working, well it seems that we will be spending less and tightening our belts even more. Fingers crossed we can make it through this period.

If you have any ideas on how I can conquer this vat increase (which by the way seems to have bought the UK in line with other countries) please let me know.

Here's to tightening our belts even more!!

BNM

The last noo noo!!

One of my hopes for the new year is to wean Car off her dummy.

Due to the fact that she had bitten a hole in one - we now only have one usable dummy left. I've had the talk with her saying that she is now getting to be a big girl and therefore doesn't need her dummy but she is a stubborn little girl ( a bit like her mummy) and this doesn't seem to bear well.

After talking with a neighbour she has suggested putting a thin cover of something she doesn't like e.g marmite or mustard on the dummy. Now this seems a bit extreme so I have not gone down this path, yet!!

Today, though I have been naughty - I have told her that I don't know where it is. This was true until I realised it was in my back pocket. But I have continued with it and kept on telling her that I don't know where it is - so far this is working but what do I do at bed time. Do I give in and give it to her? Or do we have a night of screams and no dummies??

Another thing is we could read her the book below and plant the remaining dummy:

 

This is a book that we were given and that Bel loved (even though she never had a dummy!!) - the monster in this book in the end plants his dummy in the ground. 

So do we plant the last one and let it grow - or do you have any ideas?

Here's hoping that this one hope will be easier to conquer than the rest!!

BNM