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Country Kids: Park Explorer

February 17, 2013 by TheBoyAndMe 14 Comments

We're well into the pattern of getting our minimum of 15 minutes of outdoor play a day now, striding past week two and entering week three. It's been significantly helped by the fact that the past week has been half-term and so I didn't have the stumbling block of my work days getting in the way and effecting our fun and games.

The beach is a top, and easy, venue for us as there aren't enough hours in the day to explore every pebble there, but for a bit of variety we've been going to the parks as well. Turns out my council is a bit unimaginative when it comes to playgrounds in parks and we're bored of them already; there seems to be a set template of poxy climbing frame, baby and junior swing, one slide and a wobbly roundabout. A far cry from the treasures I see other people visiting!

However, we have enjoyed the one decent one in our town which is just around the corner from where I grew up and as such is one I frequented a lot as a child.

country kids park explorer 2

I used to climb that tree as a child, so proud of him for learning how to do it too! I'm sure it used to be bigger though?

We've also been to Victoria Park in Cardiff, which is a brilliant park with plenty of money thrown at it; different authorities have different priorities I guess? In the Summer, the paddling/swimming pool is packed with children splashing each other and shrieking with laughter. Winter turns the pool into a curiosity for young children. The Boy managed to find himself a friend in the shape of four year old Phoebe who took his hand and guided him around the playground.

country kids park explorer

Today we've been down the beach front (again) on The Boy's bike and I have had to tell Mr. TBaM to stop wrapping him up in cotton wool; he's more capable on his bike than his father gave him credit for! If we can just get him to keep his speed up then those stabilisers will be off in no time!

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Silent Sunday

February 17, 2013 by TheBoyAndMe 32 Comments

SIlent Sunday 17th February 2013

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365 #7

February 16, 2013 by TheBoyAndMe 6 Comments

What a marvellous week we've had! So busy with half-term activities and I've taken precisely eleventy billion photos with my dSLR. It turns out that me knackering my 18-55mm lens last weekend (I actually cried) was a blessing in disguise because the depth of field on my 28-105mm lens is so much better.

As ever, this linky only works because of people linking to it and then contributing their thoughts to others' posts.

Join in by entering the URL of your favourite photograph of the week (either a 52 or a 365 photo) and show some comment love to everyone else in the community. We've got a Facebook group, and now I've created a collaborative Pinterest board (if you'd like to collaborate, let me know and I'll add you).

Choose your favourite photo from the past week and link it up below.
Please add the badge to your linked-up post so that other people know how to find all the other fabulous entries.
If you can spare five minutes to comment on a few other entries I know they'd appreciate it!

Days 41-47 of Project 365

February 16, 2013 by TheBoyAndMe 38 Comments

41-47 of 365

41: 'The Terrific Trio' (We were fortunate enough to be able to visit Mummy Mishaps and her boys today, and true to form we dragged them outside into the fresh air for their minimum of 15 minutes outdoor play a day. Hoods up, wellies on, find an old hoop and some puddles, and what more could you want? Really enjoyed our day, thank you Jenny!)

42: '3D' (Today I took The Boy to the cinema with Nana and his cousins, to see 'Sammy's Great Escape'. It's only the second time he's been to the cinema, the first time to see a 3D film. I'll confess that I wasn't sure how well he'd see it, I wasn't sure on the development of vision in tiddlers. However the moment he put them on, he reached out to touch the fish swimming towards him and he repeated this at least a dozen times throughout the film, before then lowering his glasses to try and understand why it looked like he could touch the images. It was really very magical and endearing.)

43: 'Zoomy paint' (Hugely productive day today: playdough, painting with cars and a themed waterplay – more on that another day, gymnastics, and outdoor play again. The Boy loved exploring the different way of mark-making with the paint.)

44: 'Solitary' (After nursery we went down the beach for a blast of fresh air to the system. 'Blast' and 'fresh' are both understatements here. It was freezing and windy. Oh and raining that irritating fine precipitation that gets everywhere! We managed a scoot to the end of the pier and back before collapsing into the warmth of the car. It is worth noting that we were the only people on the seafront!)

45: 'Shake and fizz' (A little science experiment today with some frozen vinegar blocks and coloured ice cubes, liquid vinegar, salt, bicarbonate of soda and a pinch of inquisitiveness.)

46: 'Morning scoot' (I took him for his eye test only to discover he needs a more complex one involving dilating drops to check for a stigmatism, so we had to rebook. As it was 9.30 and we were dressed and out, we headed to Victoria Park in Cardiff which we last went to when he was too young to appreciate. He befriended a four year old little girl and they spent an hour happily racing around, holding hands, zooming down the zipwire, slipping on the ice, helping each other onto the equipment, and having a marvellous time.)

47: 'Hello up there!' (A bike ride through the foggy parks overlooking the beach and back along the seafront to the car, interspersed with some pebble 'plopping' down on the beach. 15 minutes? CHECK!)

I can't choose a favourite this week because I'm very pleased with all of them; they show a mummy and her son who have had a brilliant half-term together.

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Weekend Breakfast Ideas

February 13, 2013 by TheBoyAndMe 15 Comments

The depths of Winter make us hanker for warmth. We turn up the heating, cover ourselves in thick layers of clothing, subject our sensible self to the likes of slankets, etc., all in a bid to keep warm.

And yet the one thing that so many people neglect to do is eat regularly and properly; keeping enough fuel in our bodies to stoke the internal fires. We all have our own personal central heating system, why do we neglect it so readily by not bothering to eat breakfast? Breakfast is one meal that is missed by too many people; favouring an extra ten minutes in bed to eating after a twelve hour fast is not a good option. There's a reason why it's called 'break'-'fast' you know? Eating a really good breakfast can set up the digestive system, and metabolism, for the rest of the day and prevent gorging later on.

I've been lucky enough to have been sent two beautiful hampers of breakfast goodies recently; one from the National Breakfast Week campaign and one from Warburtons. Both contained a plethora of breakfast ideas from granola, fresh fruit, porridge pots, crumpets, a range of bread and breakfast buns, and crumpets. There was certainly something to suit everyone!

breakfast ideas

It got me thinking of ideas for breakfast; ways to engage adults and children in eating what I consider to be the most important meal of the day. I always eat it (I'm one of those that needs to eat within half an hour of waking up or I feel ill), but on weekends I have more time to be creative. So here follows some weekend breakfast ideas.

Basic Pancake Recipe

110g/4oz of plain flour
pinch of salt
2 eggs
200ml/7 fl oz of milk
sweet pancakes: 1tsp vanilla bean paste, 1tsp of cinnamon and 1tsp of nutmeg (all optional)
savoury pancakes: black pepper and parmesan (both optional)

There are plenty of convoluted methods of whisking this and that first, but I tend to find that as long as the eggs are done first, then all the other ingredients can just be thrown in and whisked together. Melt a knob of butter (oil is disgusting when cooking pancakes) in a hot frying pan and keep the pan hot with a high gas to cook the pancakes quickly. For savoury pancakes I add black pepper and parmesan, occasionally spinach or pesto, and then use fillings like goat's cheese, stir-fried pepper, ham slices (or Quorn if veggie like me). My favourite sweet filling is cherry sauce and chocolate drops, with Lyle's Golden Syrup drizzled over the top (just don't tell my Jenny Craig consultant).

pancakes

Breakfast Sundae

fat-free vanilla yoghurt
granola
fruit (I choose cherries and a banana)

Layer the granola, fruit and yoghurt in a sundae dish with multiple layers of each. Finish with a sprinkling of granola and fruit.

breakfast ideas

Breakfast Cups

a slice of wholemeal bread (one for each cup)
1 egg
sausage
bacon (or Quorn)
black pepper

(I first saw this recipe on Domestic Goddesque's blog and adapted it to suit our tastes)

Cut out a circle from a slice of Warburtons' wholemeal bread and roll this flat using a rolling pin. Press into a muffin tin and fill with slices of sausage and bacon. Whisk an egg and pour over the top to below the surface of the cup. Sprinkle some black pepper on and cook on 180°C for 15-20 minutes.

breakfast ideas

Children's Cooked Breakfast

slice of bread with a hole cut out the middle (perfect if making the breakfast cups!)
1 egg
sausage
grated courgette
baked beans
knob of butter for frying

Cut out a circle from a slice of wholemeal bread and place in a hot frying pan. Place the grated courgette at the top of the space, lay two sausage slices as eyes, and half a sausage cut sidewards as the smile. Carefully and gradually, pour the whisked egg in to fill the gaps, taking care it doesn't run outside the hole. Cook lightly through, carefully flip to cook the other side. Serve with warm baked beans.

breakfast ideas

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Warburtons have conducted a study into the chaos of breakfast faced by multi-tasking mums. As a result of their findings they would like to combat the weekday stress and are asking you to share your tips on Facebook to help create a Breakfast Rush Hour book.

I was sent two hampers of products to help promote National Breakfast Week and the Warburtons Campaign. I was also sent some golden syrup for pancake day but missed the boat! My opinions and ideas are my own.

Winter Play Dough

February 13, 2013 by TheBoyAndMe 7 Comments

Play dough is a basic toy and craft item for all pre-schoolers. How many of us spend hard-earned pounds buying the badly spelt version in cute little plastic tubs? You know the bright yellow tubs with an impossible lid to remove? The stuff that gets stuck into carpets, clothes, hair, eyes, etc. and dries out within half an hour if not replaced to the safety of the tub? And that you then curse because you'll need to find another fiver to replace?

Two years ago I discovered that play dough can be made easily and cheaply, and the version that I use from The Imagination Tree lasts for ages in the fridge (my last batch lasted for eight months!). The Imagination Tree has a variety of recipes available but I prefer this no-cook play dough recipe, and so does my husband who does the washing up!

Winter Play Dough

Basic Recipe:

2 cups plain flour (I use the value range)
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
½ cup salt
2 tbsp cream of tartar (a powder which comes in pots like baking powder)
1 cup of boiling water (you made need to add more. Anna recommends up to 2, but I always need to add more flour, so start with less)
few drops glycerine (optional adds more shine!)
Extras:
- white glitter
- silver glitter
- silver star confetti
- white foil confetti
- peppermint essence

Other equipment:

snowflake, snowmen and star cutters
Winter-coloured beads and string
magnifying glass
bubble wrap
sequins and beads
stampers, moulds
cake cases and birthday candles

I gave The Boy a tray full of goodies and the mound of play dough and waited to see what would happen; it wasn't long before he was exploring the texture and shapes with the bubble wrap and the magnifying glass.

play dough activities

It wasn't long before he was doing his James Martin impression though and baking me cookies and a cake, glad to see I've trained him well. And of course, no Winter Play Dough activities would be complete without the obligatory snowman!

I'd seen some play dough mats on the Internet, but most of those designed for Winter also encompass Christmas or Thanksgiving, so I decided to make my own with invitations to play and design on them.

play dough activities

You can download a copy of these winter playdough mats here.

McVitie's Breakfast Porridge Oats Biscuits (Sponsored Post)

February 12, 2013 by TheBoyAndMe 2 Comments

If there is one meal of the day that I will always make time for, it is breakfast. I'm one of those people who can't wait around for an hour or two, nonchalantly getting on with a few chores before leisurely chowing down on a carefully crafted feast; I need to eat breakfast pretty soon after I've woken up or I feel grotty.

Therefore I've never really understood people who don't eat breakfast at all. "It's the most important meal of the day!" is the old adage, and while some people may roll their eyes at this, I do believe it to be the case. If the previous night's evening meal was consumed at 6.30pm (the case in most families) then it's more than likely to be twelve hours, possibly longer, since eating. Making the metabolism work in peaks and troughs is no good for the general workings of the body, something I've recently been learning a lot about.

However, modern day family living (where more often than not both parents are working) means that there's not a huge amount of time in the morning to prepare a breakfast, at the minimum to even eat cereal. With almost four billion breakfasts eaten on the go, McVitie's have recognised that time is of the essence in the morning and have created breakfast biscuits which provide a delicious and balanced meal on the go.

The new McVitie's Breakfast Biscuits come in three different flavours (Red Berries, Oat & Honey and Apple, Sultana & Cinnamon) and in each box there are six packets of four biscuits each. They are fortified with vitamins D, B, Iron and fibre, each pack (of the Red Berries, the flavour I tried) contains 229 calories and 1.9g of saturated fat. They are a great alternative to cereal and toast, and I've tried them one morning this week with a banana and a yoghurt; I was certainly full well into the morning, past mid-morning break in school. As filling as my conventional breakfast.

For more information on McVitie's Breakfast Porride Oats biscuits, visit their Facebook page here, or follow them on twitter.

McVitie's Breakfast Biscuits

Sponsored Post

Country Kids: Three Boys, A Hoop & Copious Amounts Of Rain

February 10, 2013 by TheBoyAndMe 13 Comments

I detest this time of year; from the second week in January until the third week of February, the post-Christmas blues hit me and Spring seems such a very long time away. It was alleviated somewhat by our snow days, but this past fortnight has been foul. I needed a break and so we booked into a Premier Inn in Weston-Super-Mare and headed directly across the channel. (Or rather around it, due to a lack of ferry or barrage.)

As we were in the area, I checked with Jenny from Mummy Mishaps if she and her gorgeous family were free; they were and we spent the day with them in their gorgeous, palatial, new house. Both Jenny and I were hopeful we could go to the beach or one of the beautiful parks in the area, but the torrential rain put pay to that. We did however spend a fun half an hour in the garden with the boys and an old hula-hoop, and really tested the theory that there's no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing!

Giddy up, horsey!

A friendly game of tug of war!

Running through a rolling hoop!

Jumping up and down in muddy puddles!

We had a brilliant time with Jenny and her lovely family, the boys played beautifully together and it was so great to see The Boy enjoying the company of his friends. I've also got a new vegetable recipe to try out with alongside my Jenny Craig meals, and need to try and convince Mr. TBaM that we don't really need an XBox Kinect (while I actually want one myself!).

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365 #6

February 9, 2013 by TheBoyAndMe 4 Comments

"I can feel it coming in the air today, oh yeah!"

Anyone with me? Anyone else feel that shhhh 'Spring' might just be in sight? I can't wait because with my favourite season of the year comes longer days, more outdoor activities, better natural light and possibly, just possibly the promise of warmth. (I'm wearing a fleece with the heating on 23°C as I type this.)

As ever, this linky only works because of people linking to it and then contributing their thoughts to others' posts.

Choose your favourite photo from the past week and link it up below.
Please add the badge to your linked-up post so that other people know how to find all the other fabulous entries.
If you can spare five minutes to comment on a few other entries I know they'd appreciate it!

Days 34-40 of Project 365

February 9, 2013 by TheBoyAndMe 37 Comments

34-39 of 365

34: 'Swinging' (The Boy learnt to pull himself up into his swing and then swing himself! All by himself! I'm so proud of him. He sat there happily swinging along while Mr. TBaM and I watched from our respective paused activities.)

35: 'Not Quite So Roar-y' (Quite possibly the most useless ride-on ever; cost £1 for a minute and barely moved. I'm not sure who was more unimpressed; me, mum or The Boy.)

36: 'The Paradise' (I had great fun creating this small world play beach for The Boy and he had great fun plopping the mummy and daddy into the sea. We made a miniature sandcastle and had a mini game of football with the Playmobil figures.)

37: 'Hopeful!' (We've been sent a Groclock for review and we started using it on the weekend after quite frankly the most ridiculous fortnight of early morning wake-ups. He's absolutely taken with it and loves watching it go to sleep. It does seem to be working because the morning after this photo was taken he woke at 5am and when he saw it was still night-time he went straight back to sleep until 7.35am!)

38: 'Sailing on the sea' (Grandad comes over to play with The Boy on a Thursday while I'm in work and Nana is looking after him, today they made this picture together with The Boy's tap-tap set.)

39: 'Pedal Power' (A quick trip to the beachfront after I picked him up from nursery and time to practise his bike riding. He's doing really well with it, steering well and staying steadily upright in his seat. The stabilisers are at the highest position they can be before removing them but he's not quite ready because he pedals too slowly. He's capable of pedalling faster but his problem is that he's too busy looking at the world around him and taking it all in to concentrate on the speed. And who can blame him?)

40: 'Wishing Well' (We've come away for the weekend to Weston-Super-Mare because I just need to get away from it all, we all do. It's not quite been the day I envisaged because it's über grey and drizzly, but we've had such fun! Off to see Mummy Mishaps and crew tomorrow!)

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and with A Kilt and a Camera