Every now and then, life throws us a curve ball. It could be something that’s stressing us out at work, or perhaps some money troubles – whatever is, it’s much easier to deal with it if you feel good. And us ladies know that one great way to feel good is to feel like we look fabulous!

We’ve always supported the children in their extra curricular activities like karate and dance clubs but we won’t force them to do anything they don’t want to. However, their swimming club is one we will enforce. We wanted to give them a good early start on what we see as an essential life skill. Learning to swim can greatly reduce the risk of drowning should they accidentally fall into water. It is great for an active lifestyle as the natural resistance of the water helps you keep fit, tone muscles and burn calories. It is also a low impact exercise so it shouldn’t create excess stress around the joints.

Last week, I went to Manchester to attend the Tots100 Blog Summit and came home with a lot of useful information.  If you are a blogger, I would suggest you that to come along next time as this is a great learning experience.

Autumn is here and whilst I love the season for those cool, crisp, clear Autumn days, it also means it is time to dig out the warmer clothing and wrap up warm.  At what point do you put your heating back on?  One of our friends will target a date (e.g. 1st October) and stoically won’t budge until then.  On the opposite side of the scale, some family members don’t really turn off their heating at all although they will have their thermostat set to about 22°C.

Today is my 11th year since I stepped into the UK. I have a lot of good and bad memories during these years. Reflecting on it, it has been a painful journey of learning as an adult. I was very well protected and looked after by my parents and was not very well house trained – I didn’t know how to cook a normal meal, wash clothing and do simple DIY.

Yesterday, Sally from tots100 had posted a couple of questions on a Facebook group regarding online safety: do we use specific software or restrictions; is there anything we would like to know about how to keep kids safe online; and anything we wish the industry would do to make parents’ lives easier?

My husband is a real badminton nut and he plays his sport every week without fail.  He is currently looking at improving his skills and updating his gear. This is written by him about the Yonex Demo Event he went to.

Time has flown by and now Ms C is starting reception. I can’t believe that my little girl has reached her next milestone. This time last year, it was Mr K who started ‘big school’. Now I don’t know what to do with myself during the day. Well, not really. LOL. After 8 weeks of Summer holiday, I’m tired of entertaining them and am so ready for them to go back. My princess became a big girl!

Following the success of last summer’s photo blogging competition Capture the Colour, Travel Supermarket has teamed up with Venture Photography to launch ‘Kid’s Capture the Colour’, an exciting challenge for children aged 15 or under to get creative and photograph the world around them. I was the 101st applicant. Fortunately for us however, someone dropped outgiving us the opportunity to get a free digital camera from Travel Supermarket to get my children to capture the colours of red, blue, green, yellow and white while on their summer holidays.

The first photo is the RED colour.  This is the shoe house in Wonderland Midlands theme park. My son and I stood on the steps while waiting for everyone to clear off before we took this shot.  Luckily, we didn’t need to wait for too long. Inside this shoe there are a lot of children and the old woman. It is based on the nursery rhyme – There was an Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe.

This is the second year of Lichfield Food Festival. This year is bigger and better!  The Co-operative was one of the biggest stalls here today. There are many food stalls dotted around the whole town and beer tasting in pubs too! There are a lot of food samples like biscuits, cheeses and cakes! We had an amazing time and bought a lot of food to try. If you missed out this year, remember to come back next year to try all the good food and beer!

My son, Mr K is a big fan of Skylanders! Last month, we went to Argos Christmas in July. He played the Skylanders SWAP Force and ever since, he has wanted it so badly. Shame that it won’t be released till October! That is a long wait for him. But he have to wait a bit longer so he can have it for a Christmas present instead!

After a long day, most people like to relax in front of the TV.  Since we spend so many hours on the sofa, it makes sense that choosing the right one for your home is vital.  A good looking, comfortable sofa should blend beautifully into the room and not overwhelm it.

Yesterday, we went out to Telford shopping mall and saw there was a free rock climbing activities. Mr K loves rock climbing and always wants to have a go. He loves to pretend he is a Spider Man. Luckily, there was not much of a queue and he started with the mini rock wall. Ms C was sitting in her pushchair and refused to join in but after much persuasion from Mr C, she went for it. I was shocked that she agreed to do it.

I have been blogging for over a year and during this time I have found some true friends and some not-so-nice people that I will definitely avoid! Since the Women’s friendship week is on the third Sunday in August (according to some websites!) I would like to take this opportunity to thank them for supporting me throughout my blogging career.