Celebrating The Small Things:Week Thirty Two

This week one ‘celebrating the small things’ I really am talking about very little things that bring me lots of joy.

Tea – I think growing up with a father as a builder who drank ‘builders’s tea’ by the gallon it was instilled in me to become a tea drinker. Whilst I was out the other day have a delicious cream tea it made me realise just how much I love a good strong cup of tea and how it really is a cure for everything!

Stationary – Since I was little I have had a love for pretty stationary and I certainly share this love with Izzy. We love nothing more than walking round stationary stores, selecting our favourite shinny new pens and fresh pages in new note books. The only problem is I tend to hord notepads in fear of messy them up with my terrible handwriting!

Why, Why, Why – I have a love hate relationship with the relentless ‘why’ questions I still get from the youngest two. It can be massively draining when they are in full swing but equally as indering that they have such a thirst for knowledge and what to know about absolutey everything that is going on around them.

The Blogger Interview

  
I was tagged by the lovely Katie at Growing Up Kater Tot to take part in ‘The Blogger Interview’.

It is wonderful to have been able to find out a little more about Katie and I can’t wait to have a read of the people that I am going to nominate to take part.

How did you get into blogging?

I love days out with my little ones and due to me spamming my Facebook on a weekly basis with our adventures I got lots of emails from friends asking advice on thing to do with their children.  My Sister suggested I started up a blog and the rest is history.

What Advice Would You Give To A Blogger Starting Out?

I went into blogging completely blind with no real knowledge on how to write and absolutely no technical know how!

Luckily enough my sister and my son have been a great help on the technical front but I do feel im still muddling through with my writing.

I would have done a bit more looking into everything that goes into a blog before I started as I have found it all a little overwhelming and stressful at times.

How has your blog changed since you started writing it?

I was originally just going to blog about days out.  Over the last five months I have really enjoyed adding recipes, crafts and parenting advice to.  I know I may be better to have a primary subject to my blog but I am really enjoying the diversity I have found and I hope that my readers are too.

What advice would you give to PRs approaching you for a campaign.

As a family we are open to trying out a variety of different products and days out.  We were lucky enough to be able to attend our first blogging event the other day.

As we have a large age range in our family there is a good opportunity to get different views on things from many perspectives.

We will always give a honest opinion on anything we are given to review.

Do you have a plan for your blog?

I still feel it’s early days for me and I am learning new things everyday.

I want to continue to improve my writing skills and gain more confidence at the keyboard.  

My main aim to to write a blog with good content that will interest people and keep them coming back for more.

What do you think about rankings?

I would love to say they are of no interest to me but they would be so far from the truth!  

I managed to get into the Tots100 top 500 last month and was complelty over the moon.

At the moment I am putting a massive amount of time and energy into my blog so it is fantastic to know that I am heading in the right direction and what better way to keep an eye on how your doing than to keep a check of your rankings.

I hope you have all enjoyed a little of what goes on behind my blog and I would love to nominate the following people to join in to:

Picking Up Toys

Baby Brain Memoirs

Days In Bed

Our Seaside Baby

  

 

My Leibster Award Nomination 

          
A while ago now the lovely Charley Mulaney kindly nominated me for a Leibster Award.

This was a lovely surprise and is now down to me to answer the great questions she has set and then pass the love on to some more fab bloggers!

Here are the Liebster Award rules:

1 – Thank the person who nominated you and link to their blog.

2 – Answer the 10 questions given by the nominator.

3 – Nominate and link 10 bloggers (with less than 200 followers).

4 – Notify all the bloggers you’ve nominated.

5 – Create 10 new questions for your nominees to answer.

So a little later than it should be!!  Here are my answers and my nominations:

  1. Who inspires you?  Although she will be shocked by me saying this, it has to be my Mum.  I was the worst teenager you could imagine and she has always stuck by me no matter how hard it must have been for her.  She is always there for any of us at the drop of a hat and I really hope that my children can feel the same way about me.
  2. There are four seats around your dinner table, anyone can fill them – who would it be?  My Grandma as I miss her so much and would love to be able to tell her how happy and settled I am now.  Angelina Jolie as she is my ‘girl crush’ and I find her life fasinating.  Elvis Presley as I’m a massive lover of his music and would love to find out what really happened in his last days – if they really were!!  Mickey Flannagan to bring some humour, he is the funniest man I’ve seen.
  3. What is your favourite song?  It has to be Save The Last Dance by The Drifters as it was my first dance song.
  4. You have the whole day to yourself – how do you spend it?  Sadly I’m a gym bunny, so I would get up and spend a few hours in the gym, followed by a bit of a pamper by getting my hair and nails done then finished off with a lovely Spanish meal with my hubby.
  5. Spring, Summer, Autumn or Winter?  This is a hard one as I love the freedom that the summer gives you with the good weather and longer days; but Christmas is my favourite time of the year so I really can’t chose!!
  6. What was your first blog post about?  My first post was a little bit about me and my lovely little family and my reasons for starting my blog.
  7. Do you have a bucket list?  If you do give us an insight into what’s on it.  Ive not got a bucket list as I like to take each day as it comes as you never know what’s round the corner.  I’m always onto the next thing and love building memories, but I’m not great at making plans.
  8. Dogs or cats?  Well as I’m allergic to cats it has got to be dogs!!
  9. What are your guilty pleasures?  I’m a simple girl and love nothing better than a long bath followed by a big bar of chocolate on the sofa.
  10. What’s your best quality?  This one has taken me a while to think about but I think it has to simply be, being a Mum.  I’ve had my moments and I’m sure that my kids would not always agree, but its my biggest love and I like to think I put my all into it.

I would now like to nominate:

Don’t Call Me Step Mummy

Our Footprints

Mammy Undone

Mrs Savage Angel

Bits And Bunting

Simple Life Mummy

Ethan And Evelyn 

Pretty Without Heels

It Just Me And My Life 

The Original Single Yummy Mummy

Here are my questions for you guys:

  1. What inspired you to start your blog?
  2. What makes you smile?
  3. What is your most prized possession?
  4. What is your favourite quote and who is it by?
  5. What is a normal day in your life like?
  6. What is your favourite blog at the moment?
  7. How did you name your blog?
  8. What is your favourite post?and leave a link so we can all have a read 
  9. What would be your perfect holiday destination?
  10. What is your favourite room in your house and why?


11 Random Things

           
I was tagged the other day by the wonderful Laura from WaffleMama to take part in ’11 Random Things’.

Below are my answers to here questions:

  1. Do you know a good joke? The answer to this is a big no!!  My jokes stretch as far as “why did the chicken cross the road?”
  2. What do you think about beards? On the right man I think they look great.  On my husband though I hate it!!  He was desperate to join in the craze last year, but with his bald head he really didn’t carry it off!
  3. Why did you start blogging? I love days out with my kids and was getting emails from friends every week about my Facebook posts of where we have been.  My Sister suggested I started one and I’ve not looked back since.
  4. What’s your favourite Disney film?  This is so hard as I love everything about Disney.  I think is has to be Peter Pan as I love the naughtiness of Tinkerbell.
  5. If you could be invisible for the day-what would you do?  I would 100% spy on my kids!  I know it’s bad but I would love to see what they get up to without me around.
  6. Cats or dogs? As I’m allergic to cats it defiantly dogs.  Cats freak me out with their unpredictability too.
  7. What’s your favourite snack?  If I’m being bad it has to be a big bar of Galaxy chocolate or Greek yogurt with honey if I’m feeling saintly.
  8. What’s your favourite song?  I love mowtown so it would probably be Save The Last Dance by The Drifters as this was my wedding song.
  9. If. You could be a celebrity for the day – who and why?  Angelina Jolie as she is stunning and her life fascinates me.
  10. What’s your most embarrassing moment?  I have plenty of these!!  Probably losing a chicken fillet from my bikini in a wave machine as a teenager.  My sister was wetting herself and I was mortified!
  11. What do you love most about yourself?  There is not a lot I love about myself, but my ability to have five wonderful children is something I’m very proud of.  I know a lot of people struggle and I am truly blessed.

I would like to nominate Days In Bed, Absolutly Prabulous and My Allergy Boy.

Here are your questions:

  • What is your first ever memory?
  • What would you chose for your last meal?
  • How long is your longest friendship and where did you meet?
  • If you could go back in time and change something would you? And if so what would it be?
  • What is your most treasured possession and why?
  • What would be your dream job?
  • Do you have a pet name?
  • Do you believe in love at first sight?
  • What is your best achievement to date?
  • If you could change anything about yourself what would it be?
  • Would you rather trade intelligence for looks or looks for intelligence?

I hope you all enjoy joining in.  I can’t wait to read your answers.