Free For All Friday: 10 Things to Do in Autumn

1. Make a family time capsule and bury it in the garden (or hide it in the loft).

2. Have a baking day, nothing says Autumn to me like the smell of baking. Apple pies, rock buns and parkin all hold special memories.

3. Go for a night-time walk and see what stars you can spot (there are apps that can help with this).

4. Board game tournament, winner stays on. 

5. Movie marathon, pjs and duvet optional. 

6. Start a craft project. Crochet/knit a blanket, mug hug.  Try this blog for ideas torontoknitcafe

7. Drink hot chocolate at sunset, at the beach

8. Make a family 'Bucket' List. For ideas visit dazeofadventure.com 

9. Tell spooky stories. here

10. Wrap up warm and go for a walk kicking though the autumn leaves. 

My Life Monday: Word Building

Today I've been spending a bit of quality time with my eldest boy JJ.

He's currently 8 going on 30, with a touch of toddler strop thrown in for good measure.

It would appear he has entered the word building phase, taking different sounds and putting them together to use in place of the expletives I must admit I try hard not to use.

Today we have had boosh, skidoosh and skidooshi. None of them have any particular meaning to him but they are littered within conversation.

Now I can just about recollect the heady days of being an 8 year old. One of my words was squaz. It mean a little bit, gizza squaz of that paint. A bit more than a squaz was a squazidick. I still love the feel of that word, although I can't really use it in day-to-day life with many people.

Then again, when I was 8 I was obsessed with being a witch trapped in a human dimension and I could only pass to the wiccan side via a tree or through a certain pair of goal posts at the local school.

Things seem different for boys, at least it does for my two. Games with no defined story or that aren't based around some sort of video game just don't seem to happen.

It's a shame, I'm trying hard to instil some imagination into these two but they're not going for it yet. However, they're constantly making up new gangs. Prank Gang, Secret Agent Spy Group and Weird gang, so you never know it might just be me sucking the imagination out of them.

My Life Monday: Things They Are a-changing

For the last eight years I have been working part time at my office.

Next week I am going to return full time. New department, new role, new responsibilities.

I also embrace the whirlwind that is shift work, five days a week. I will still be publishing on this blog daily, I will still need to keep on top of the housework, the boys and their homework, cubs and just who will take the boys to school and bring them home (depending on the week).

This means I have, for the last few weeks, been trying to get the house in order so I can maintain, rather than fight an uphill battle in 15-30 minutes a day.

A few weeks ago you will have seen I worked on the de-cluttering of my bedroom. That is still remarkably tidy. However, little bits that needed to be finished still need doing and there are a couple of other areas that are starting to fall behind again.

The bathroom got attention last week, the joy of living surrounded by boys.

The kitchen is this week's task.

I'm also working on getting back into the groove with planning shopping around a pre-decided meal plan.

I also need to start to use weekends for doing things with the kids... and sleeping!

I'm going to be a busy BeeBee.

Family Friday: The Day It All Went Wrong

We had some big plans for today.

We were going to go somewhere further afield and make use of the out of season prices.

Alas, Patsy the Battletram didn't agree with these ideas. So instead gets an extended stay at my mechanic's pleasure. Oh the joys. I didn't expect that after having my vitamin injection this morning that I would be high tailing it up to the garage with the world's loudest ever exhaust. It was just embarrassing.

So instead we rounded out half term with an impromptu lego-themed day, and an emergency visit to the dentist for me.

Bean bags on the floor, adults huddled on the sofa, mummy feeling rather sorry for herself and her bank balance!

We've always had a touch of Lego obsession in this house. We have the games, the tv specials and some films not to mention the blocks, some of the giant box we have were mine from the 80s.

We are really looking forward to seeing the new film, anything with Will Ferrell in is usually a hit at BeeBee Towers with the husband too.

Family Friday: Half Term Ideas

As a parent with my finger firmly attached to the internet, I have been looking around for things to do with the boys when they're off on Half Term next week.

The youngest boy child has decided that he really wants to go to the seaside... wind and blowy gales included, the eldest has come home with a list of chores to do for Cubs so he can get his Home Help badge. Oh what a Cub Leader I am, bribery with a badge so he'll tidy his room for a week.







On his list are the following:

1. Cook a simple one-course meal. I'm thinking along the lines of beans on toast (or more likely spaghetti hoops then his brother will eat it too).
2. Lay a table and serve a simple meal. This can be done with requirement number one. 
3. Wash up afterwards and show how to clean a saucepan or similar cooking utensils, cutlery, glassware, etc. This may include loading and unloading a dishwasher. Anything that means I don't have to!
4. Under adult supervision, wash and iron your Group scarf. I hate ironing those, and he screws it up in seconds.
5. Sew on a badge or button. He has plenty of buttons that have popped!
6. Keep your room clean and tidy and make your bed for a week. This one is my favourite! 
7. Clean two of the following: windows, silver, brass-work, basin or cupboard. Would it be cruel to pass him all the spoons that haven't been polished for 10+ years.
8. Clean and tidy a living room. He'll hate me for this!

And if I'm brave I may also add make a cup of tea/coffee to the list. 

If he manages it he'll get this badge for his uniform.

Now what to do on a windy day on a UK beach when the winds have been at their worst? 

We could head towards Hornsea, a shale beach with lots of rocks. Suitable for making pets with...

and some gorgeous fish and chips. And some kite flying to boot.

We could also go to Bridlington or Scarborough, which at least have shops close by to shelter from the biting wind, before a final decision is made I best keep an eye on the weather reports.

Family Friday: Simple Car Game

My eldest boy has a favourite game, the one where you take it in turns to make up a story. Each person telling a different part of the far-fetched tale.

It's a great way to pass the time, but I find that it takes far too much concentration when you are trying to drive the car. So we've started ABC lists instead.

So far we have had animals, fruits, vegetables, names, places and word association, the only limit is your imagination and not knowing any 'X' words.

I've found this also rather good for distraction purposes too.

Family Friday: Pot Luck Dinner

Once a month my friends and I gather for a meal.

We all take a dish from a particular cuisine.

This time we chose Greek. I took pitta breads, taramasalata, houmous and tzatziki and a greek salad.

There was also a beef stifado, mousakka, stuffed peppers and tomatoes, lemon pilaf, prawn toast (we always have prawn toast mmm), oreo truffles, cheesecake.

We laughed the night away with ouzo and a few games of this...

The table looked full with all these goodies

please don't judge, it is really funny. You just can't be easily offended!

Family Friday: Minute to Win It

This is a game I came across while on @pinterest.

In the USA there is a game show where you are challenged to complete a series of light hearted challenges in under a minute.

These are some of the ideas I came up with to play with my cubs and family...

Bucket Head: Catch three balls in a bucket on top of your head.

Defying Gravity: Keep two balloons in the air.

Breakfast Scramble: Assemble the front of a cereal box that has been cut into 12 pieces.

Dizzy Mummy: Unroll a small roll of toilet paper with 360 degree spins of the arm. (You may need to unravel some first to make it an attainable task.)

Separation Anxiety: Separate a pile of 25 multicoloured sweets into five separate containers in a separate colours with chopsticks.

Tweeze Me: Players use tweezers to relocate five Tic Tacs from one bowl to another.

Face the Cookie: Players move a cookie from their forehead to their mouth using only their facial muscles. 

Snail Trail: Same as Face the Cookie except using an After Eight Mint!

Faster Pasta: Using a stick of raw spaghetti held between your lips pick up 3 pieces of raw penne pasta. 

Number of the Beast/666: The task is to roll 6 sixes in 60 seconds

The only limit with this game is your imagination.