CRACKED NAILS & SPLIT ENDS
The blog
Real life. Real challenges. Real stories.
Welcome to my Lifestyle Parenting Blog, where I explore topics related to chronic illnesses such as ME/CFS, chronic pain, and fibromyalgia while embracing a passion for yoga, books, and blogging.
We Celebrated National Nail Polish Day With Num Noms!
Summer loves getting her nails done, and she loves Num Noms, thus, the Num Noms Nail Polish Maker is the perfect activity for her. In fact, we had loads of fun doing it together, painting each others nails and be creative.
How to Find a Rug that Matches Your Floor Type
A rug is a fine addition to any room - providing it’s a good match with the décor! Rugs that don’t match often make a room look less attractive, and it may even make the room a bit more dangerous, especially if slippery!
Therefore, it’s important to think about a few things when buying a new rug, with one of the most important being matching it with your floor. Doing so ensures you have a stylish rug that adds to the room, while also making sure it won’t slip or cause you to trip.
Gazillion Bubbles Brand New Bubble Pong Game
We were sent the Gazillion Bubbles Brand New Bubble Pong Game.
We love bubbles! There is something endearingly fun about them, so add bubbles to a game of pong, and, well, you have, a fab game!
Dear Oven RIP
Dear oven, RIP.
Our much loved oven gave us 10 years, 10 years of family cooked meals, thousands of cooked meals (good and bad). But, its' not been smooth sailing, we've certainly had some ups and downs over the 10 years; the good and the bad, we've been through a lot!
The first time the oven broke down, it was easily fixed. It was the heating element, I watched the engineer fix it, and I remember thinking to myself, wow that was simple, I'll change it myself in future if the oven breaks down again.
Anxiety in Dogs: Is Stress Affecting Your Pet?
We’ve all had restless night’s where the worries of the day have left us unable to relax — but did you know dogs can also be kept awake due to stress? According to a recent study, dogs suffer a worse sleep if they have experienced negative interactions and behaviour before laying down to rest. Researchers also discovered that canines that enjoyed more positive experiences managed to sleep more soundly than those that didn’t.
Design a T-Shirt with River Island
Just before Christmas River Island sent us one of their white T-Shirts along with stickers, glitter and pens/paints and gave Jacob the challenge to make his River Island white T-Shirt to stand out from the crowd.
Jacob loves challenges and especially anything where he gets to be creativity, and he enjoys messy activities, thus, I knew he would love this challenge, and he did.
Please don't blame yourself
"why doesn't she want to see me anymore"
"why doesn't she like me anymore"
"I think I annoy her"
"why doesn't she love me"
these are some of the questions Summer asks again and again.
The first few months, when her mum decided to blank us completely - 12-months ago,
2017 - The Worst Year of my Life
2017 was not only the hardest year of my life, it was the worst.
At the start of the year, we lost my brother-in-laws dad, he had passed suddenly. My husband and his brother-in-law are very close, they are best friends. We are a family, including the outer family that are very close. It was devastating.
2017 was already looking to be a rubbish year, and then...
My dad was diagnosed with terminal cancer, given just months to live.
My Son Turned 18
This month see the celebration of my sons 18th Birthday.
Eighteeeeeeeeenn......
how did that happen?!
It seems like yesterday I was bringing my first baby home from the hospital, bursting full of an array of new emotions, mostly a mix of fear and pure love. I think I spent many
Rosemary and Garlic Shoulder of Lamb #HealthyRedMeat
As a parent, I want to make sure that my children are eating a balanced diet, because, eating well is so very important; they need to grow, develop and explore and eating well will help them flourish. No single food contains all the essential nutrients needed, and that’s why we need to make sure our kids are consuming foods from each of the main food groups.
It's easier said than done if you have a fussy eater and providing a balanced diet for your little one can be quite an uphill challenge. But, as long as they eat well most of the time, they will be getting plenty of nutrients and they will also slowly learn healthy eating habits.
My Dad's Cancer Diagnoses
At the start of the year our-lives were thrown upside down. My Dad, my happy, healthy, big hearted, beautiful and much loved dad was diagnosed with stage 4 small bowel cancer. Months, not years, months.
Our walk - Herringfleet
We've not been to Herringfleet in a few months - it's one of the kids favourite walks to go (because of all the tree swings in the wooded area). The main reason we've avoided it is, when we last visited in January the village owner put a note up warning they were placing cattle in the field. Which means we won't be able to allow our dogs to run free. And so we avoided it. Hubby drives past it everyday to go to work and he mentioned that the cattle were gone, and so, off we went. And, we had a great day!
Our Walk - Walberswick
Walberswick is a small and idyllically secluded village on the coast. It's beautiful. It has the beach, sand dunes, marshes, history and so much more. I've not been to Walberswick beach for many years, my kids have never been and we were excited to go - it's a popular place to visit, especially as it's perfect for crabbing, taking walks and spotting wildlife.
Jacob's Dream Pet with PetPlan
Jacob was given the opportunity to design his very own dream pet. Jacob's favourite animal are Pandas.
He knew what he wanted to draw for his dream pet instantly and got to it. He drew what he called his 'perfect Pet Panda'.
My Top Tips To Help My Kids Feel Better When They Are Unwell #VicksTricks
Last week, leading up to half-term the kids were ill, one after the other. It wasn't very nice, I hate seeing them poorly - the kids feel like rubbish and I'm stressed out about them feeling like rubbish. I just want to make it better.
Our Walk In Photos
Our family walk.
We were back to Fritton Woods this week - it's our new faouvite place for walks. But, this week we stuck to the paths.
This time mother in law came along, she does a few times but hadn't since Christmas, and we love it when she comes, the kids especially love it and she loves it too. She has her wellies especially, and a ramblers walkers stick which helps her. Even better I managed to get Lewis to come with us - being a teen it's harder and harder to get him to come out with us.
When a Child's Birth Parents Leave: Supporting a Child Through Loss and Confusion
When a child's birth parents suddenly leave their life, there are no easy answers. This is my personal story of trying to support my little girl through the confusion, hurt and questions that followed.
Roasted Vegatable Couscous #NowCookIt
Now Cook It is a new website that's just launched and includes a range of recipes to help get people cooking. As part of #NowCookIt campaign, I was sent a mystery box of items and a recipe for me to make. In the box included all the items need to make a Roasted Veg Couscous - which is one of my favourite things to eat!
We've Been Out and About Again - Our Walk
We'd only gone and left Jacob's wellies in the garden since the weekend before, hence, they were soaked when he went to put them on - (we had a half an hour of trying to find them before we checked in the garden!) So we had to make a detour to the shoe shop to purchase him new ones before our walk.
He had his "I don't want new ones, I want my ones" grumpy head on, so it took a little longer in the shoe shop and convincing him to pick new ones then we had wanted, but then kids are great at being a pain in the butt.