APAD-day 10

Well we were going to meet up with my SIL & the cousins today, but Miss L-R woke up really chesty. She's been suffering with hay fever quite badly but her coughing was very nasty & painful. After a drs visit it was confirmed that her chest is thankfully clear but her nose & throat are very congested. We picked up medicine & after one dose she had a really long nap & felt much better :-) So instead of going out we stayed in & the girls did more crafts!! I actually got round to using an idea I pinned from Pinterest!! Whilst the girls crafted, I sorted their craft cupboard as it was in a ridiculous state!! Didn't take as long as I thought & now I can tick that off my list woo hoo!!!

Xxx

APAD-day 9

Not much to say for today, the girls played, I did lots of boring paperwork, hubby tidied the garden, it rained :-(

I only took 1 photo today, the rose bush I brought for my MIL's memorial garden has bloomed, which brought a smile to our faces :-)

Xxx

APAD- day 8

Baking,sunshine & a visitor in the garden :-)

Xxx

APAD-day 7

I cleaned, the kids lazed around. That was pretty much it!! Lol!! :-)

Xxx

APAD- day 6

Not as hot today, which was a good thing as Miss K was back at physiotherapy. She was up, washed & dressed & had eaten her breakfast by 7:30. Her sisters had to be dragged out of bed at 8:30!!

After physio we had a wander around town having a look in the pretty shops before coming home for lunch. Unfortunately Miss K's energy levels seriously dropped after the excitement of the morning & her early start. There were a few arguments & meltdowns, so I grabbed a blanket & we headed out to the field behind our house until dinner time. I'd bought some ribbon twirlers from the £shop a few weeks ago & surprised the girls with them today, they were a huge hit!!

The rest of the evening was pretty chilled & I'm now curled up on the sofa about to work some more on my blanket :-)

Xxx

APAD-day 5

Phew it was a scorcher today!! We did manage to get out for the morning to visit some friends, but the heat is definitely taking it out of my girls. More crafting happened this afternoon & I dug out my Flowers in the Snow blanket to try & find some motivation to finish it. I'm halfway through but have stalled for some reason? I really do need to stop starting new projects & get some WIPs finished!! 6 rows of 10 squares to go before starting the border, I want to set a deadline for myself but what would be realistic?

So today's photos are my WIP & my youngest girlies enjoying bath time after a very hot & uncomfortable day.

Xxx

APAD - Day 4

Today was roasting, apparently it hit 30 degrees by 2pm.

We ate lunch outside, well the girls lasted 10 minutes before they asked to come inside. They aren't huge fans of high temps. Miss L-R comes out in a terrible heat rash, which sun cream seems to really aggrivate :-( So inside we came, & had some lollies to cool us down. I had originally planned to do some painting outside in the garden, but that wasn't going to happen. Instead the dining table was overtaken by paints, paper, glue, glitter & pens. The whole afternoon was taken up with this, I think my girls would happily do this everyday if I let them. (My house is steadily being overtaken by crafting supplies & Masterpieces!!)

After dinner (when the temps had considerably cooled) we went outside to play on the hill while we waited for Daddy to come home.

Miss L-R had great fun with her bubble camera, chasing her sisters! I have to say that they played brilliantly together today, no one was left out. Im sure that means tomorrow is gonna be horrible lol!!

All photos are currently being taken on my Iphone, as my camera just doesnt want to play anymore :-(

Whilst we are loving the sunshine & lack of rain, slightly cooler temps, or even a small breeze would make things more bearable right now :-)

xxx

P.S whilst the girls were crafting, I did manage to make a start on a crafty project of my own. Im hoping to get it finished tomorrow & will get some photos posted, as this is supposed to be a crafty blog!!

APAD -day 3

It was a quiet day today, everyone's tired. I was a mean Mummy & made the girls clean their rooms! Then we went for a quick walk. We didn't stay out too long as it was hot & everyone was grumpy.

Here's hoping tomorrow is a bit more interesting!! :-)

Xxx

Our Summer Fun List

Last summer was filled with many, many days of "Mum, Im bored". It was not fun. There were quite a few ocassions of when we also couldnt think of anything to do, resulting in even more boredom.

This was not going to happen this year! So, on Friday evening, after school had finished for the Summer, we sat down as a family (that paints such a lovely picture doesnt it? In reality I bribed everyone to sit down with scones, cream & jam! This lasted for about 5 mins, before the Hubby kept trying to put the tv on & the kids kept trying to wander off.) & made a list of all the things we wanted to do this summer. That evening, once the kids were in bed, I sat down & made the list pretty as it was gonna be sitting on the fridge for the next few weeks!!!

So far we've ticked 3 things off the list!!

I've left space for more things to be added should we need to, but the list so far goes something like this:

• Picnics
• Go to the beach
• Family Olympic Competition (more on this coming soon!)
• Baking!!
• Whipsnade Zoo
• Go to Nanny's on the train
• Have a Tea Party
• Ride our bikes without stabilisers (This is the older girls challenge)
• Visit Stonehenge & Bath
• Visit Auntie Clair & the Cousins
• Read Harry Potter & The Chamber Of Secrets
• Decorate a cardboard house (will add the proper link to this later)
• Go to a Farm
• Nature Drawing
• Go to the Park
• Make collages
• Watch the sunset on Dunstable Downs
• Movie Nights
• Visit Gullivers Dino Park
• Go on a Scavenger Hunt
• Crafty Day with Auntie Cathy
• Go to the Roald Dahl Museum
• Explore Ashridge
• Go on a Nature Walk
• Visit the Horses
• Visit London Zoo
• Feed the Ducks
• Go to Stanwick Lakes
• Make a Volcano
• Visit Audley End
• Go on the Leighton Buzzard Railway
• Go out for Ice Cream
• Play Just Dance 3
• Visit Hampton Court Palace 

Phew, that should be enough shouldnt it?!

What have you got planned?

xxx

APAD - day 2

Fun at the zoo today :-) It was one of those lovely days when everyone gets along & no major stress happened. Right up until the car broke down on the way home :-(

Grrrrr!

Xxx

A photo a day for the summer-day 1.

I love the Photo A Day thing that bloggers do, but I never thought I could manage to maintain it for a whole year. So instead, I decided to do it just for the summer holidays, like a little diary of what we are up to.

We had originally hoped to go to a river festival today but at the last minute we decided it would be too busy for Miss K & we would stay closer to home instead. This turned out to be a great decision as my SIL went & couldn't even get parked there were so many people! Instead we did a bit of shopping including shoe shopping which almost turned into a huge meltdown from all of us, & had lunch before returning home to spend the afternoon in the garden. I am rapidly falling in love with my little garden, if you had told me 5 years ago that I would be interested in gardening I would have laughed at you! How times change!! So for Day 1 you get a photo of my 'garden', I will do a proper post on it soon.

Ok, I'm off to bed as we are going to the zoo tomorrow, my girls love the zoo so I'm gonna need a good nights sleep to keep up with them!!

Xxx

Cheesy Chicken Bacon Mushroom Pasta

Like most families, mealtimes can be a battle in our Home. My older girls are slightly fussy, but can eat for England! My youngest, Miss L-R, well fussy is probably not the right word. Stubborn, strong willed...these are more fitting. She's not a big eater, she'd quite happily graze all day long if I let her, esp if theres biscuits or chocolate involved. Yoghurts, toast & jam, strawberries, ham sandwiches, tomato soup, sausages, chicken & pasta are pretty much all she eats. I try really hard not to cook different meals for everyone, but sometimes I do give in just to make sure she has eaten. This recipe came about one evening when chaos was occuring, during the Witching Hour (why is the hours of 3:30-7pm so blooming hard!?!) everyone was hungry & whiny, & I didnt have a clue what to cook. Then it hit me, my older girls & myself are big fans of spaghetti carbonara, so why not try to recreate it? Although I had no clue how to make it & no time to research it, so it was a case of making it up as I went along. Normally this would be a recipe for disaster, but it was a complete success, with empty plates all around :-)  I cant think of a better name for it though?

Cheesy Chicken Bacon Mushroom Pasta

4 Chicken Breasts

1 Pack of Bacon

1 Pack of Mushrooms

1 Pack of Fresh Egg Spaghetti (You could use dry pasta instead, we use fresh eg pasta due to Miss K having an intolorence to dried )

50g Butter

50g Plain Flour

1 Pint of Milk

Large amount of grated Cheese

Garlic (Powder or Fresh)

Pepper

Oil

1) Chop the chicken, bacon & mushrooms. Heat some oil in a large saucepan, add the chicken & cook through. Then add the bacon & mushrooms, & a pinch of garlic powder (depending on how much garlic you like), continue to cook.

2) In a seperate pan, melt the butter, then add the flour to make a Roux (Oooh check me out, using fancy terms, lol!), keep stirring the mixture till its smooth. Then slowly add the milk, mixing frequently to get rid of lumps. It usually only takes about 3/4's of a pint of milk to make a decent amount of sauce. Once you have a nice consistency, add a handful of cheese, season well, & keep stirring for a few minutes. Then add the sauce to the pan with the chicken, bacon & mushrooms, stir well & simmer. (If the sauce starts to thicken too much & disapear, add more milk).

3) Whilst the chicken, bacon & mushroom goodness is simmering away, cook the pasta as directed. Once the pasta is cooked, drain then add to the sauce mixture & stir well.

4) Serve with a liberal sprinkling of grated cheese if desired. Garlic bread is also very yummy with this!

**Please note, I am not a professional chef (LOL!), nor a recipe writer. This may not be the healthiest of recipes, although Im sure it could be made into a healthier version. I am just a Mum, who had a small triumph over a fussy eater, & thought she would share this triumph! If I have missed something, or you do make this, please let me know!!**

Thanks for reading.

xxx

Stuck in a blogging rut

Im in a real rut at the mo where blogging is concerned. I want to blog, but I just cant come up with anything to blog about.

Im blaming the weather, its July, yet the weather here is absolutely miserable, grey & seemingly constantly raining. Its so depressing. I have so many WIP's that I am just not motivated to finish, Im not even motivated to start something new. I dont even want to bake :-(

I do have 1 or 2 finished projects to show, but its impossible to get a decent photo of them with no light. Fingers crossed we may have 5 minutes of sunshine soon, & then I'll be snapping away!!

I think that once I have dropped little Miss L-R at school this afternoon, I'll come home & do some painting. I havent painted for ages. I'd really like to have a go at some Cath K style roses. Maybe painting something pretty might scare the funk away?

The next post will be more upbeat I promise!! ;-)

Oh & the photo? That'll be the lovely little Miss L-R with her Olympic torch that she made yesterday. At least my girls bring some sunshine into my life.

Take care.

xxx