Home sweet home

I spent this weekend away In London. A 3am start on Saturday and only arrived home last night at 10pm. I am so grateful to have such wonderful friends in my university law society. I am also incredibly grateful to my wonderful boyfriend for taking on full parental responsibilities so often that I get to attend events like this. But there is nothing like home sweet home, after you’ve stayed in a cheap and cheerful hotel in London!

We are so lucky to live in such a beautiful home. When we were house hunting a year ago, this was the first home that we looked at. Although, we went and saw other houses, all four of us picked this as our favourite. And we saw some pretty spectacular Welsh houses, including a five bedroom mansion on a hill! This house was just in the perfect location and has such an amazing character. With our modern extension on the north side of the house and the cosy south side, with the original exposed beams and massive fire place. James and I each have our own offices and the boys have their individual rooms (which are huge!).

I am still working on making our home homelier. We have a huge problem with clutter and it’s something that we must work on daily. Not to mention letting go of things that we don’t use! I love the way the house is looking at the moment. The days are becoming shorter, and I light candles all the time. It’s slowly moving into fall and the cosiness of the house is so welcoming. I would be lying if I said that I didn’t want to light a fire already. I have come to my senses though and decided it is still way too soon.

On a more personal note I have decided after four years of law school that I am going to go for the bar. I have lots of work to do still, but I always assumed I wasn’t good enough. I am on par for a first class law degree and I have just made it to the final of an internal mooting competition. I don’t give myself enough credit! Now all I need to figure out is how to get the £18,000 for the next stage in my studies!

September Meal Planning & Organizing. Plus Free Printable.

             

  We have decided to make so big changes for September. Starting really with a Budget. We've never done a budget before. I did some searching around to try and help us get going. It seemed like a lot of savvy mums out there do budgets for their families. Not just budgets they organize everything. But we'll get to that later. So the real issue is we hemorrhage money each month and don't really know where it goes. That's what next moth will hopefully tell us. Spend as we normally do and see if you stick to the budget and see where we are overspending. 

           One other big change we made is monthly meal planning. We have a weekly meal menu most weeks and it keeps shopping down. But, I have now switched to planning meals for the month. It comes with lots of changes. We now have a CrockPot meal night, a pasta night and soup night. In an effort to keep cost down and be healthy we are only having meat 3 times a week. We will see how this goes as all three of my boys love meat. So first I plan what meals we will eat throughout the month write then down on my monthly planner. The next step is to Get a huge 'master' shopping list together. This includes everything from your recipes and everything for breakfast lunch and snacks (which I don't plan). It is a whopper of a list. Then I go through and Highlight all the things I can buy in the first week. So pretty much everything not fresh and all the CrockPot meals (as I prepare these on Saturday and Freeze. Post to Follow) We have started shopping at MySupermarket . It is a great site for seeing which shop is the best price each week. (UK only) I buy everything on the master list the Saturday before the first week. Sort it all and put it away. The next step is to do your weekly lists. This is for everything fresh that won't keep needed for weeks 3-4. Fill in your weekly menus and shopping lists and stick them somewhere everyone can see so they know what dinner is each day. I like to keep my master list and month plan in my Filofax (which holds everything) on my desk so I can look back when I need too. My next task is to organize recipes. :)


Here is a printable of my menu planning kit. Enjoy! 

Thanks, 

Summer Fun & The Big Move!

As the first week of the summer holiday draws to a close, I wonder where it has gone. It has flown past. We have done lots of cleaning and a bit of packing. We have played outside and had a trip to the lake. lots of big things happened this week. I decided it's time to go back to school. So I signed up for university. We had our end of tenancy meeting and today we sign our new lease. I have been on and off the phone all week. So much to do and so many people to call.

 So, yes we are moving. Our flat is getting small and so we are moving to a little house around the corner. Richards sister is moving in with us too. Lots of changes are to come. I can't wait to move but it's all the work that is getting me exhausted. We still have lots of things to sort out before we can even start to move our things. First being there is not flooring. We have to go and choose some nice new carpet and laminate for the house. The oven hook up in the new house is electric and we have gas. We have a lot of stuff and the new house is very cozy. But even with all the little issues I am looking forward to it.

I've decided to go back to school. in today's economy it's hard for us to live with one job. We are comfortable at the moment. However if we intend to buy a house where we want to we need to join forces. I left high school with not much intention to go to school ever again. How silly was I. I miss school a lot. however, if I had not made the choices I did I wouldn't be where I am now. So basically, I don't want to just get a job and hate it. I want to do something I enjoy and feel passionate about. I want to wake up and want to go to work not dread it. I've started off with a couple of business modules, but  considering going into Law. We will see how thing progress. It's a long road but at the end it will be a better smoother road, even though it's bumpy now with a few pot holes.

A Somewhat Sunny Week

This week it has finally started to warm up a bit. We have had a lovely taste of what is to come. Warm weather and lovely sunshine. Long may it continue. Here are some Instagram shots from the week. I haven't taken any photos with the canon for weeks. Richard has taken some. I need to get back behind the lens. When your a mum, you find it hard to get things done. Not to mention I am quite lazy lately. Hope you all had a nice relaxing weekend ready for the hustle and bustle of Monday.

Yummie food, crafts, and a new kitty

Spring is here! Though it doesn't feel like it as it snowed the past two days. I have seen my first daffodils and that's very exciting. Really hoping the warm weather is just around the corner. This winter has been tough. Got some lovely lavender to go in the window sill and brighten up the place. As soon as Christmas is done the house always feels empty, so I make a point to have a decoration box for all seasons. Easter is fast approaching, but i can't find my easter box. Doh! 

For mothers day I got a little baby kitten. She is six months old, so not that little. She is very lovely. It has been a struggle to name her as we can't all decide. We've Gone with Kiki from Kiki's Delivery Service. One of my favorite films even though in the film the cat is called Jiji. 

Weekend Baking

Did a bit of baking over the weekend. Made some yummy cookies and had my first go at royal icing piping.

 It wasn't as hard as imagined. It did take some preparation. You have to put all the icing in glasses with a wet cloth in. A bit of a faf but I think they turned out cute. I made them for all the Yummy Mummys and Toddler group this week! I have a lot of help from a few websites and thought I'd share in case you want to try it out yourself. I got the cookie recipe from Martha Stewart. But did have to convert it all to Metric, and still have it all so if you would like the converted copy let me know! :)  For decorating, The lovely Marian over at Sweetopia She's got lots of other cute tutorials too, so be sure to check them out. Hope you enjoy! 

A bit of weekend baking.

I made some yummy muffins for Alexander today. Love Lemon and Poppy seed muffins. I have never made them before. Got a recipie over at The English Kitchen. They sure did turn out yummy.
Also wanted to share this cute freebie with you from over at Instructables.

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Christmas Time.

Here I am blogging months after my last blog, just goes to show how busy Christmas time can be. Luckily, I am sitting here blogging with a fantastic homemade latte as my husband got me a wonderful machine for Christmas. A Nespresso. Oh it's so nice. Anyone who really likes coffee i suggest you buy one of theses machines. Great coffee minimal effort. We have had a great christmas this year. Hard not to get a bit sad though when your family is on the otherside of the world. But it's also amazing to carry on doing things you did as a child with your children.
We always try to keep some traditions going at Chistmastime. We always buy each other christmas PJ's and wrap them up to open on Christmas eve. We always make a wish while stirring the christmas cake. We always hide the pickle. Anyway hope you all had a lovely christmas. Here are a few snapshots from the holiday season in our family.

Happy Christmas and hope you all have a lovely New Year! 

xx