Halloween - A Night of Hope

Whilst many of our children will be donning their outfits and preparing to party or go trick or treating, there are some children out there who's frights aren't just for fun or for just 1 night of the year.

Many children are living in fear of things that we can only ever imagine and as a beacon of hope World Vision is inviting everyone to turn 31st October into A Night of Hope. By simply carving a heart into your pumpkin and placing it in your window or on your doorstep you will be lighting a lantern of hope for children living in fear around the world.

Having just celebrated black history month, my children felt very privileged to be taking part as they have been reminded of just how fortunate they are and hearing about some of the fears that children face they couldn't wait to get started.

We began by downloading the pumpkin carving kit from the world vision website. It includes all the information you need about how to carve your pumpkin safely and even includes extras such as recipes, ideas for left over pumpkin seeds, further information about A Night of Hope and a poster for you to print out and show your support.

We decided we wanted to be a little different with our Night of Hope project so we headed for the craft cupboard.
Armed with glue, brushes, tissue paper and more we settled down to carve our 'pumpkins'

The boys decided that they wanted to take it one step further and make something that would last longer than just a couple of days.

We gathered some old glass jars and cut up some tissue paper.

We glued the tissue paper to the glass jars.

Once the glue was dry we cut away a heart shape and placed a tealight inside. As the boys told me last night "Now there can always be a beacon of hope in our house".

We felt it would be right not to carve a real pumpkin though, so we cut, scooped and carved a beautiful heart in a cute pumpkin.

Please, please join in and make tomorrow a Night of Hope too!

M xx

Tip of the Day

If your buying Christmas presents already ask in stores for a gift receipt and let them know that it is a Christmas present.
Once home mark an envelope with 'Christmas Present Receipts' and put in a safe place. Should you have any problems you'll be able to find your receipts quickly and with ease!

M xx

A Trio of Monsterous Treats

With tween occupying herself with friends, first son at his grandparents for the weekend and my other half at work, I was tasked with keeping little monster busy and happy. When asked what he wanted to do 'bake!' was his rather excited response.

After looking through the kitchen cupboards for what baking goodies we had we opted for some straight forward marshmallow treats.

Here are little monsters bloody eyeballs, Monsters Inc Sully and a witches broomstick.

What you will need 

Marshmallows(not the mini ones)

Straws

Milk chocolate

Red candy melts 

Blue candy melts (or you can use white chocolate and food colouring instead of red and blue melts)

Mint essence

Purple rainbow drops

Raisins

Method 

1) On a sheet of greaseproof paper lay out the marshmallows and put the straws into the middle making sure the go right through to the bottom.

2) Melt the red candy melts (if using chocolate, melt the chocolate and add the red colouring) then coat some of the marshmallows in the red. Add a raisin for the eyeball.

3) Melt the blue candy melts (if ising white chocolate, melt the chocolate and add blue colouring) and mix in 2 drops of mint essence.

4) Coat some of the marshmallows in the blue mix then randomly put some of the purple rainbow drops all over.

5) Melt the chocolate and coat the remaining marshmallows in the melted chocolate.

As you can see, not all of the chocolate made it on to the marshmallows!

6) Leave all of the marshmallows on the greaseproof paper to dry.

Once dry, treat your friends to these ghoulish treats!

For this and other recipe ideas don't forget to follow me on Pinterest.

M xx

Tip of the Day

If like in my house, pillowcases for your duvet sets often go walkies (a bit like socks) then here's a tip to save you spending ages searching.

Once you have washed, dried and ironed(yes, I iron my duvet sets!) your duvet sets, fold the pillowcases and place them inside the duvet cover and then fold. When you come to change your sheets your pillowcases will be super easy to find.

                      M xx

What Black History Month Means to Us

As Black History Months draws to a close I have been reflecting on what exactly it does mean to me and my family and as a family that is fortunate enough to be rich in a number of different cultures I feel it is an important job for me as a mum to educate my children on all of the different histories and cultures that make up 'us' as a family. Whilst this is performed as part of our daily lives in the food we eat, languages and terminology used, family practises and tales of old, Black History Month is a great way of highlighting some wonderful and courageous people who have helped shape the world we live in today and bring to light the many different traditions from around the world.

One of the reasons I felt compelled to write this post is as a mummy blogger I frequent many parenting forums and networks and there has been very little mention of black history month and in some cases no mention at all.

I could spend hours going on about what black history month means to me and reel of names of many black people who have contributed to the world we live in but this post isn't about that, it's about seeing and hearing what black history month means to my children.

I asked each of them what black history month means to them and here are their responses 

Mikhayla-Jae, 11

"I believe Black History Month is a celebration of achievements and movements made by not just famous individuals but by lesser known people too. It is a time to reflect on what is great about our cultures and traditions and acknowledge some of the wonderful things people have done for us. We can also use this month to let our mentors and role models now how proud we are of them and grateful for their contribution to our lives."

Jason-Derrecce, 9

"To me Black History Month means achieving goals  and proving that skin colour shouldn't limit our ability to be who we want to be."

Samuel-Lewis,4

"It means I am proud of who I am and love my mummy and daddy, 2 grandmas,2 grandads and nanny. It means that I get to eat lots of different foods and hear different songs. I love my family."

Couldn't have put it better myself.

M xx

Children's Party or The Greatest Show on Earth?

As a mum to three children I know only too well the pressures that go with parenthood and one that seems to be increasing of late are children's parties. When my eldest who is now eleven (and a half!) was younger a simple tea party or picnic in the park (her birthday is in June) was more than enough and she was happy with it. 

When my now 9 year old was younger things like taking a few friends to the cinema or bowling were acceptable birthday treats but I've noticed that parties that our youngest son who is nearly five is invited to are becoming more and more extravagant. Gone are the days of soft play parties or a few friends invited for tea, no no no, I'm talking a petting zoo in the garden, a coach to the seaside or hiring out a soft play centre exclusively for the hire of a 4 year olds party.

I have to admit, we're not completely innocent. Back in January we spent a VERY pretty penny on hiring a double decker bus that had been converted into a soft play and play centre for our son's 4th birthday but what we forget is that the cost doesn't end there.

By time we added up what we had spent on the Party Bus, food, party bags, decorations, drinks and prizes for the games, we could have actually taken the 3 kids away for a week! 
The problem with this was that it set a precedent. If we could do that for the little one then what was we going to do for our daughter for her 11th and then what would we do for our sons 9th birthday in September?
It seems that parents feel compelled to put on 'The Greatest Show on Earth' instead of a simple treat that our children would probably be equally pleased with. Let's face it, it's clearly not our children that we are trying to please with such lavish events and do they really remember them a month or two down the line?

After our temporary loss of sanity over this years birthday parties we have made a pact that we will not be putting on such elaborate 'displays' next year and should the children ask why we shall simply ask them to recall what they can actually remember from their last party! 

Do you go overboard for your children's birthdays or do you feel is all just about keeping up with the Joneses?

M xx

Weekly Meal Planner

After our adventurous menu last week we decided that we'll keep things simple this week with some firm family favourites. As we all have a busy week, these meals are either quick to make or the type of meal that you can leave on the hob or in the oven...

Weekly Meal Planner

Monday

Sausages and mash with onion gravy

Tuesday

Beef Stew and dumplings

Wednesday

Ham, egg and chips

Thursday

Tuna and sweetcorn pasta

Friday

Hot dogs and onion rings

Saturday

Jacket potatoes with various fillings

Sunday

One pot roast

What will be on your menu this week?

M xx