another long but fun day.......

today has been another long day, tiredness is seeping in and it is not yet 7.30pm, I cannot wait for morning as I will get to sleep in until 7am as my mindee will not be here until 8am and mini man is not n school not until 12th June ( the day  start college - i must write that on my calendar as i will forget)

Tomorrow we are having a red, white and blue, themed day, for the mindees, and the munchkins. So far we have colour rice for sensory play.

Big bit has made bunting out of paper, we have made cakes for our tea party, and will be making red and blue gloop in the morning, and some red jelly for messy play. And as i type little lady has stripped off and is waling around naked in a union jack hat ( ha ha wonder how many hits "naked in a union jack hat" is going to get my blog )

off now to practice some crowd control on the munchkins.

Do you have any plans for the Jubilee weekend???

Helllooooooo (echooooooo)

I know I have been naughty again, but  thought before  pop off to bed I will say a quick hello.

Firstly let me say a big hello to my new followers, bare with me and  will resume normal posting frequency as soon as I can. Please feel free to leave comments and say hello ;)

All i can say is  am shattered. I am minding all day, and marking exam papers all evening at the moment,  could do with sleeping for a week, but I know that will never happen. Lil lady let me sleep in until 7.45 the other morning and I thought all my birthdays had arrived ;)

Talking about birthdays, I was 35 on Friday eek,  set so many goals for when  turned 35, financial as well as personal. I need to sit and reassess them ( when i get the time this bank holiday weekend)

My birthday was lovely, Big bit Made me lavender and rose cupcakes, she used the lavender from the garden, and they were delicious

and my gifts were well thought out and my brother even was able to stack codes to buy my inter flora flower delivery, lol, that made me even happier to receive it

So what else have i been up to? Not much really,  except work, well I say work, well looking after 2 under 1 year olds and lil lady is work, but because  am my own boss i get to decide what we do and where we go, and I am loving it, as we head off somewhere, every day, whether a park or museum, or rhyme time, or lovely walks, or just st on the living room floor and free play. I made the mistake of lying down on the floor yesterday and had all 3 of them on my back, puling my hair and one of my minded little ones found my tattoo on my back as my t shirt had ridden up, and was mesmerised just poking it, it was hilarious.

So although my days are very full and tiring, they are fun too. And i am such a gluten for punishment  have signed up to start my childcare diploma, so I can work towards becoming accredited to offer free nursery places for 2 and 3 year olds.

Big bit is also helping out as she is no longer at school she only goes back for a leavers assembly on Friday and a science exam on the 12th June,  am paying her for her help, not a huge amount but a lot more than she is used to.  I really feel for her as she has applied for so many part time jobs, and wants to work - hopefully once she starts college she will be able to find something.

So that's me in a nutshell, once this marking is over n the next week, I shall be back to full positing force and ready to bore you all again

M&S knicker and bra discount - cheap knickers lol

I have just seen this on hotukdeals, so thought i would share here, as i have just ordered 8 pairs of M&S knickers and a very nice bra for £2.70 delivered to store. Store pick up is good as you can designate a day up to a month in advance and all free.

the code gives you £10 of lingerie no minimum spend, and it works on full priced and sale items, plus M&S are giving an extra 10% off sale items today, so depending what it is you want to order you can some bits for pennies, I was very happy with my £2.70 spend for big bit's knickers and my bra.

the code is BRAFIT01, which you can pop in the promotion code box - hope this helps someone.

it's only me.........:)

yes, I am still around, I know, I know smack my wrist as I said I was back, but time is flying by lately, and my time is only going to be more stretched over the next 3  weeks, as I will be exam marking.

I am not complaining as I will be thankful for the extra bit of income, my plans are to pay a little as an overpayment on my mortgage, and to buy a new fridge freezer and TV. Hopefully the money from marking will cover the majority, but we will see.

My fridge freezer is too small for our needs, and is getting on and I want a more energy efficient one, and my TV, is on it's last legs, it now takes 5-10 minutes and repeatedly pressing the standby button during this time to switch it on. Yes I could try to get it fixed, but the TV is 10 years old now and I have promised the munchkins a TV that does not crop the ends of their viewing of certain TV programmes, films and computer games :). Plus the cost I have been quoted, I can buy a TV for not much more, and then i wont have to by another TV for a loooooong time .

Big bit has almost left school, she is now on reduced timetable for the next 3 weeks, which means she is in 2 days next week, plus 2 exams and then one day a week for the next few weeks, in fact they are not even days but a few lessons spread out over the week, which totals a day. I have also registered as my assistant with Ofsted so she can help me out with minding and I can pay her until she can find a part time Job.

This phase of my life feels very strange, I am used to being mum, being in total control of what my children do, now I have to begin to step back a little, let her make more choices for herself, and I must admit I am a little scared of what the future holds for her, but excited too, but i know it is just another path along the journey of my, and our lives.

I also found out this week that I can have funding to pay for the Diploma in childcare, I need this first to be able to become accredited to offer the funding for the 15 hours free nursery care provided by the Government, hopefully it wont take to long for me to work my way through the Diploma.

I am loving childminding though, and am so happy that i made the change in my life, I am financially poorer, but my life is so much richer, and I am happy.........

busy, busy, busy....

sorry i have not been around this week, but I have the most adorable little 8 month old girl to child mind, and with taking new enquires I have had no time to do any thing but child mind, clean and see to the munchkins.

Hopefully this next week I will be in more of a routine so will be able to post more, well hopefully. I have another family visiting tomorrow for are for their 2 year old, have applied for a variation for another under one, so if that does not work out, then I can care for the 2 year old instead. I also registered big bit as my assistant this week, so she can help out during school/college holidays and i can pay her so she can earn some money.

I have to register self employed tomorrow, and sort out coming off benefits properly this week and sort out my accounts.

I am loving childminding, it is so satisfying, and it fits in so well with family life. Even the munchkins told me this week how happy they are that I am doing this. Lil lady is coping really well with sharing me, which i did not think she would, but lots of extra cuddles have worked wonders. It also helps that the little one i care for is the most laid back and pleasant little girl, and just fits in so well.

Am off now to finish my ironing, and finish washing the dishes, and do some planning for this week of all the fun things we can do.......