The summer holidays are nearly upon us, and it’s a time many parents worry (more than usual) about whether or not they can afford to keep the kids entertained. With a little planning and sensible behaviour, however, sticking to a budget is as easy as one, two, three.

Today is the first day of the school holidays and it was a mad day! I invited a couple of Mr K’s friends and their mothers plus two close friends along. As there are two toddlers too, I started the BBQ and cooked most of the food before they came. This was for safety, from the hot BBQ and the smoke. I bought a couple of disposable BBQ trays and propped them up on top of some loose bricks to prevent it scorching the patio.  To fan the coals, I borrowed the children’s hand fan! They are so handy for hot weather or BBQs! This is my School Holiday Charcoal Challenge.

This Wednesday was Ms C’s last day in nursery and yesterday was her graduation ceremony at Burton Adventure Farm. This is our lovely Ms C collecting her certificate and goody bag. There were a lot of tears but we will still see the lovely teachers again. The nursery is just next to her primary school!  I want to say a big thanks to the nursery staff for their hard work. Ms C has achieved so much in a year.

Cravendale Milk is rewarding their fans for drinking more of their good stuffs with visits to zoos to once-in-a-lifetime experiences. Join them today and they will welcome you with a 2 for 1 voucher for a great day out. Collect 3 codes to start your first adventure! This week, they sent my son to try Tae Kwon Do in King Edward VI Leisure Centre. We were greeted by their lovely members and Mr K was initially quite overwhelmed. He was quite shy and did not want to join in the warm up. After observering for a few minutes, he soon joined in the group.

Sadly, my little girl is no longer little. She is going to Reception this September and yesterday was her last Sports day in preschool. This was my first time attending sports day with her. Each of the children are given a card to collect stamps/stickers to complete the race. Each were awarded with a medal, mini certificate and a packet of Haribo sweets.

Yesterday was my son’s first sports day. He had been excited for over a week since he had been practising during normal classes last week. The day before sports day, he pleaded for me to go and watch him. He knows that I am not a fan of sports. Anyway, on this hot and sunny day, I sat on the grass along with all excited parents and their family. Some of them even brought their own picnic, blankets and chairs. I, however, was equipped with mobile, iPad and camera!

We have had the most gorgeous weather since last week.  It has been so hot that our curtains have not been drawn in an attempt to keep the rooms a bit cooler for the children to sleep.  We are pretty well equipped though with three pedestal fans and one air conditioner!  Yes, my silly husband bought it a few years ago as an impulse buy.  Most of the time, this large, bulky machine sits behind a door in the corner of the room gathering dust.  However, this week, the air con has been used extensively!

I didn’t have a desire to learn to drive which I can pinpoint back to being involved in a car accident with my dad when I was very young. Also, living in Singapore and London, public transport is regular, easy to use, cheaper and less stressful than owning your own car.

If you had followed my post about my daughter who was diagnosed with lymphadenopathy, I am so glad to tell you that we had a ‘fantastic’ result.  She is having glandular fever and not cancer. So what is glandular fever? They are a type of viral infection that mostly affects young adults. Common symptoms include fever, a sore throat and extreme tiredness (fatigue).

Last Friday, I found a lump on Ms C’s throat. The first thing I did was rush to Birmingham Children’s A&E. When we got there, the place was packed. It was Friday evening and I asked myself, does she or does she not need to go A&E?  Her lump is not life threatening and she is happy and breathing well. In my earlier panic, I had not thought it through.

Recently, I met Annie Spratt at the Tots100 Blog Summit and found her amazing blog. I am an amateur gardener but I am very keen to learn and keep my garden in good shape. I am linking this post up with How does your garden grow? over at Mammasaurus.

Both of my children love gardening. They always want to help me water the plants and pull up weeds. Now the weather is getting warmer, it is the perfect time to get out into the garden to give it some TLC. Last year, we planted broad beans directly in the soil but it was eaten by slugs as they began to grow.  This year, I bought a seed tray to help our flowers grow first before we re-plant them.

Recently, I was offered to review a photo canvas from PhotoBox which I had accepted as I can update my existing canvas. So when I was discussing with Mr C what we going to do with the existing photo canvas, Mr K said we should sell it through eBay! Mr C and I were in stitches laughing. Who would ever want to buy our own personalised photo canvas! Love how children can be so funny and naive. So what do you do with your old canvas?  Do you store it in the loft, give it to your parents or save it for the bonfire?