The Other Love of My Life April 4, 2009

Once upon a time many many years ago when I was only knee high to a grasshopper a pop group burst onto the scene sparkled so brightly and then left, left me in a wilderness until earlier last year when they announced they were reforming I was beside myself with excitement who am I talking about – New Kids On The Block – as soon as I heard I was like a teenager again – much to the entertainment of my hubby who has never seen me like this before and I finally got to meet them, paid an extortionate amount of money (which probably accounts for budgeting going pear shapped in previous post !!) by attended a meet and greet with them and finally got to meet my heart throb – Donnie Wahlberg !!!! I presented him with a Liverpool Football club shirt and then he wore it EVERY night in the last song of the show – what an amazing experience – cant wait to do it all again – will budget more carefully this time ! Lets Get This !! I love em x x x x

Budgeting April 4, 2009

So we are coming up to the end of the financial year, tying up loose ends, filing all up to date, ready to be archived.

Right…. and then I woke up and smelt the coffee, unfortunately towards the latter end of the financial year things have gone a bit pear shaped, so another one of my mid-year resolutions is to get more organised, and to try and get straight financially.

I’ll be honest with you this year has been a struggle, living from one pay day to the next, and for a family of five, with a mortgage and loan to pay off it really hits home.

The things that you do learn along the way are lessons that money cant buy such as:

1. who your friends are – your real friends are the ones who accept that things are tight at the moment and wont pressure you or treat you any differently

2. How to cook properly – I have always (as far as I can- and I do have the odd slip up !) made meals from scratch, even on junk food saturday we make our pizza, but I have learnt how to cook more creatively with leftovers, making stock and making up stews, bulking meals out with more vegetables and freezing leftovers and also turning the ratio to putting veg on plate first and adding meat as a side dish.

3. how to budget, although we are paying off loans, – if we stick to our budget plan (pear shaping taken into account ! we still aim to have these paid off by mid next year, I have also found a great web site that has great advice http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/ advice and tips for claiming back any money due to you and up to date money saving coupons, and much much more

4. that any family can adapt no matter how young or old each family member is, you may have to explain in simpler terms but we try and explain to the whole family that there wont be any luxuries for a while and they seem to accept the small changes.

5. the wide variety of free activities that are available it may take a while to find them by searching various sites but the rewards are amazing.

6. Love of my family, as dramatic as it sounds – with my husband and my children by my side we are a team against the world, in times of crisis, be it financial, emotional or physical we pull together no questions asked, we as parents lead by example and if we manage to keep the family buyant then the kids are great.

anyway going back to my organisation for budgeting, in advance of 6th April I have, 2 lever arch files, one for wage slips/bank statements and the other for bills, a diary to write down any upcoming direct debit /standing order dates, 2 small notebooks (one for menu planning and one for day to day spending records) so we are all cooking on gas ready for the start of the new year and together we will do this – debt free future here we come hopefully – Ill keep you updated as we travel along this rocky road – wish me luck – Im going in !! x

Nature V’s Nurture April 4, 2009

I was always one that thought that boys and girls behaved depending on how they were raised, but how come I have 2 girls (9 & 5) who are proper girly girls, they seem to have fairy dust that follows them with all the glitter that is thrown around,they play princesses and school and are so engrossed in paint and sequins that it looks like an explosion in a factory,

Then comes along my son (2)( who’s daddy is admittedly a footy nut but the football is mainly on in the evening after bedtime) who thinks nothing of using the lounge as an inpromtu football pitch and really boots the football (maybe another Gerrard on our hands), who sits under his highchair pretending to be in a car driving, and then lies under his trike with pencils pretending to fix it like a mechanic.

Maybe its a genetic link as Hubby used to be a mechanic but changed jobs before son was born, who knows, all I know now is that I now have Princesses riding round on Thomas the Tank Engines, and still go skating on a strategically placed car every now and again – ahh well crash helmets at the ready!!

Lets Party April 4, 2009

 

Come and join me for the ultimate blog party,

I’m new to blogging and as far as I can see so far is still relatively new in the uk – certainly none of my friends do it or have even heard of it – so I hope to meet lots of new friends at the party.

follow my blog and find how one happy housewife from Liverpool muddles through life and hopefully comes out the other side smiling – I have my work cut out for me I am a mum of 3 ( 9, 5, and 2), a wife, and a housewife – and I love it !! hard sometimes but so rewarding, look forward to hearing from you all – love to you all x x

Thought of the day April 4, 2009

It is better to have lived one

day as a tiger

than a thousand years as a

sheep

Frugal Living April 4, 2009

So this weekend the whole family was set to work, husband has just put up our new greenhouse, and the kids and myself have all spent the day planting seeds in our new resolve to :

1. cut back on weekly foodbill helping the family budget by growing our own vegetables

2. eat more healthily

so here we are, surrounded by trays of soil, full of the wonder of nature waiting to burst out. so far we have planted 2 types of tomatoes, strawberries and carrots, to be joined next week by 3 sacks waiting to be filled with differing varieties of potatoes. keeps us all healthy, helps to teach the kids where food comes from and how easy it is to produce these small nuggets in your own back garden. we have, by no means an orchard in our garden we have an average sized garden, but one tip that I have learned is that no matter how small your garden is you can always find space to plant some seeds, be it, herbs in flower beds, or hanging varieties of tomatoes and strawberries to plant in hanging baskets, (although hang them in the back garden otherwise all your visitors will eat them while they wait for you answer the door !!)

so hopefully, in a few weeks I’ll have some seedlings to show you before they are planted out in the big world.

Wish me luck !!x

Housewife and proud April 4, 2009

Now what I am about to say will go against what a lot of people agree with or have strived to achieve over the past few decades.

I am a Housewife

and Proud of it

When I had my first child I went back to work part time and it broke my heart to leave her each morning at nursery, luckily my husband is very supportive and so when I had my second daughter and then my son said that if I wanted to stay at home then he would totally support my decision, which trust me is no soft option to stay at home.

I work harder, longer and have picked up a wide spectrum of skills that I would have never experienced through sitting behind a desk in an air conditioned office.

I love the warm feeling that you have when you watch the old 1950’s films where the mother stays at home pinny on baking all day (not that it happens in reality!!) I don’t feel that I was born in the wrong era, I love the independence, and strength that modern day women have, but I personally feel that my best job is to stay at home, running a busy household and making sure that the children are ready and to respective classes on time.

During my time as a housewife I have learnt to

Budget as a single income family, which is no mean fete as hubby is a postman so not earning millions – yet !

Time Manage – trying to co-ordinate 3 children, 1 husband, 1 dog and 1 rabbit, remembering, school, after school classes, parties etc

Cleaner – refer to previous post and my 6 binbags full, and that’s just the start.

Cook – working out how to cook nutritional food, healthy, within budget and more importantly that the kids will eat, not always the same thing

And these jobs are only the ones that spring easily to mind, if I was an executive I would be hailed as a wonder for my multi-tasking and paid a small fortune, yet I do all of this for nothing, just for the love for my family, the respect from my family and the wet sloppy kisses that I have off the kids when their faces light up when I am there every morning and afternoon to pick up and drop off at school.. we have very little money spare….money can’t buy everything….and do you know what….. I wouldn’t have it any other way x x

End of an Era April 4, 2009

Early last year I embarked on a business venture, I started my own business, www.mumztheword.biz making and selling nappy cakes and baby shower/party goods, and unfortunatly have nad to succumb to the old credit crunch, and had to close the business, just had to put the last few items on ebay, really disappointed, and maybe even secretly hoping that they dont sell ! my youngest is now 2 and with doing the nappy cakes was such a good excuse to have newborn goodies around the house – there is something about the smell of baby talc or lotion, – oh well I’ll just have to go and lurk around the baby aisles in the supermarkets instead x x x

Spring Cleaning in La La Land April 4, 2009

Being a parent involves several skills that you won’t find in any parenting book, you will need all the peacemaking skills to give Kofi Annan a run for his money and all the secrecy and espionage to put James Bond to shame. The latter of which was put into practice over the past week, I braced myself and battled my way through the waste ground that according to our house deeds is a second bedroom commonly know as my daughters bedroom. As we have our two daughters sharing a room we cant really afford to have it too messy, which is where I come in, while the kids are at school I go in like a stealth bomber and blitz the whole room, so that when they arrive home from school everything is pristine (for at least 10 min !!)
Last week it took me 2 days, I managed to get 7 bin bags full of junk out of their room, (don’t know where from) and after those 2 days it didn’t look any different – why?
It does get easier though, before, when my youngest daughter was only in playgroup for a couple for hours in the morning, I had to move fast, tidy, dust and dispose of rubbish down to the tip before picking her up, couple of times we were late, daughter all seatbelted up in car, picking up binbags that start playing all sorts of tinny, tinkly music when you pick them up, so there we are unpacking all sorts of trinkets never used but as soon as I try and throw them out they become treasured possessions (until next time !!)
Which brings me back to last week, and my 7 bags of rubbish, and the icing on the cake is a 2.5ft tall La La courtesy of the teletubbies, hasn’t been looked at for the longest time hence the top of the rubbish pile, as the clearing had taken so long we were late to the rubbish tip so had to go after school pick up. Down to the rubbish tip we go, 7 bags of rubbish into the skip, no problem, soon as we get to La La, youngest daughters bottom lip starts to wobble, oh ohh….. so back home we go, trip to the tip over, and we have a visitor with us, yes La La has decided to extend his visit with us indefinatly – so now he is back home, gracefully decorating the kitchen floor, twice I have moved him, along with the several times the baby has tripped over him…… seriously outstaying his welcome…….till next time !!!

Shirley Valentine Syndrome April 4, 2009

“Hello Wall – Its me Shirley”
Anybody remember the 80′s film Shirley Valentine, where Shirley tried to escape her humdrum life and spoke to the kitchen wall with the hope that someone would listen and whisk her away to sunnier climes, well as soon as I finished my last post I thought about it and dont you think that blogging is like a modern day Shirley Valentine? you take a few moments every day share your thoughts with your pc and hope that someone, somewhere listens to you and helps your day just that little bit sunnier, well wall I’m off now, I’ll speak to you tomorrow