Monday 26 November 2018

Disney Themed Christmas Decorating

Disney is a huge part of our family life especially at Christmas, so it'll come as no surprise that we have quite a few Disney decorations for the festive period. 

We recently had a festive Disney day which started with us decorating the tree and living room, doing some Disney Christmas crafts and ending the day watching The Muppets Christmas carol.

This year we were sent some fantastic products from shopDisney who have a huge range to choose from.

If you follow me on social media you will know that I love twinning so I was over the moon with the pyjamas that we received. The girls changed into them for our festive day and were amazed by the fact that they were allowed to wear pyjamas so early in the day. They adore the fact that their names are on the back. It's great to see shopDisney offering so many products that can be personalised. It makes gifts and items much more unique and special.





One of our traditions is to buy a new Disney bauble for our tree every year, so we were delighted to receive two new ones in our package. We had Chip and Dale and a stunning Gold Mickey. The girls loved the Chip and Dale ones as they have a Christmas bell on making them jingle. I'm hoping Santa will leave me the Aladdin socks hanging ornament on our tree this year. 




Under the tree we placed their Minnie Mouse sacks ready for Santa to fill on Christmas Eve. They have also been personalised which I think is a lovely touch. I've actually asked hubby to buy me one as I was insanely jealous when I saw them.


We also received a fill your own Disney advent calendar. We much prefer having one that is reusable so this is a great addition to our house. Ophelia hasn't stopped playing with it. She likes to pull the drawers out and stack them up to make towers and then pop them all back. 



The kids love a bit of crafting so they really enjoyed the Create your own ornament kit which you colour and shape them into cubes to hang on the tree, nothing beats a bit of hand made decorations from your kids to make a tree more personal and special. Eva made some for her teachers and family members.



After our busy day making and decorating we headed to the sofa to snuggle up and watch a Christmas film. We are now massively in the Christmas spirit. The girls enjoyed crafting so much that we are going to attempt to make a Disney themed wreath for the house. 

Have you put your decorations up yet? Do you have any Disney decor up over the festive period?

*Thank you to shopDisneyuk for gifting us with a Christmas bundle of products. All opinions and photographs are my own*



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The Great Skate at The Celtic Manor Resort

One thing we love to do at Christmas is to go ice-skating, so when we were invited to the opening of The Great Skate at The Celtic Manor Resort, we couldn't say no. The Celtic Manor resort is our favourite hotel in South Wales. It's more than just a hotel and every time we walk into it, we feel like we've gone away on holiday. In fact as soon as we walked through the doors last week, Eva screamed, please can we stay at this hotel. It's beautiful.



If you are heading to The Great Skate there is a separate car park which is clearly signposted. If you are there for a certain amount of hours there is a small charge but we were there for a couple of hours and we didn't need to pay anything. The car park is a short walk to the hotel along a path surrounded by Christmas trees.

It is open until the 6th January and prices start from £5. There are various tickets and packages available.

Even though The great Skate is actually outside it is all enclosed which is perfect as it means it's slightly warmer than being fully outside and that you can attend even if it's raining. 

One thing that really stood our for us and enhanced our skating experience was the fact that they have 3 different skating aids for children depending on their age and size. There was a polar bear, penguin and even a sit on seal. Eva had a penguin which I was eternally grateful for as it helped me around the rink too! 



We had an hour on the rink and Eva didn't want to get off. She absolutely loved the experience. 

We then headed into the food and drink area which was lovely. There were a few different food options which was great to see. You could have burgers, hot dogs and there was even a halloumi option which sounded yummy. The only downside was there were no children's sized portions which I would like to have seen. There was also a sweet treats stall serving things such as popcorn, waffles, chocolate, candy floss etc which my children thought was amazing.




There was a huge range of drinks on offer. We were really spoilt for choice. There were hot drinks, soft drinks, festive cocktails, mulled wine, beer, cider, wine and prosecco. 






After our experience we had a wander around the lobby area of The Celtic Manor resort to look at the Christmas decorations and soak up the atmosphere.






We had a fantastic evening and we are already looking at when we can return again in December. We'd highly recommend it.



*Thank you to The Celtic Manor resort for having us as your guests. All words and opinions are my own*









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Monday 19 November 2018

Be in the Picture Weekly Favourites - 7

Welcome back to the Be in the Picture weekly roundup. Once again there were lots of wonderful pictures shared on instagram and I struggled to pick just a few favourites. I could have featured so many. If you missed the last roundup you can catch up with it here, Be in the Picture 6.



For those of you that haven't heard of #beinthepicture, it is an instagram hashtag that myself and Alana from Baby Holiday created. It is designed to encourage you to get in-front of the camera as opposed to behind it. I used to always be the one taking the pictures and I was never in them myself. 

You can use the hashtag on any pictures that feature you whether that be fashion, parenting, travel, with your partner etc. You name it, we want to see it.



I couldn't pick a favourite image out of the 4 I've chosen for the roundup. They are all beautiful and I'm loving the autumnal colours.



I love how fun this picture is by Emily and Indiana . I can totally empathise with the bugs. We've had a few in our house in the last few months but luckily no sickness ones...yet.






💛 T H E E L D E S T 💛 This boy, the eldest, I don’t think he realises just how much we all love him. I think he suffers from ‘eldest child syndrome’, which I totally get as I’m the eldest too & we always have to take the brunt of everything, don’t we? I have an angel figurine next to my bed & Beau thinks it’s Tyler & it’s not hard to see why with that mop of golden ringlets he has. He’s been my angel man since he was a baby 👼 I tell him every night that he’s my best friend & I hope he believes me. He can be testing, trying, frustrating (can’t all 5 year olds!), but he’s so special to us & has the most unique, imaginative mind I have ever encountered 💛 I need to learn not to make him feel that being the eldest is the short straw and to appreciate that he’s only little too. How lucky am I to have had him for 3 whole years and 3 whole months before I had to share my mother’s love with anyone else 💛 Are you the eldest child? Did you or do you have eldest child syndrome too? . . . #motherandson #motherandsonbond #motherandsongoals #myangelman #curlsfordays #mybabyforever #myeldestboy #5yearsold #myoldest #myeldestson #raisingsons #raisingboys #eldestchild #themagicineveryday #ourwhimsicaldays #mydolly #beinthepicture #acupofmotherhood #honestlymothering #honestlyparents #motherhoodrising #motherhoodslens #motherhoodinspired #ipbig
A post shared by Fiona (@dollydowsie) on

Dolly Dowsie's instagram feed is simply divine. Every picture she posts is just beautiful and this one is stunning. My eldest child has 'eldest child syndrome' too. 






Ad - As a parent I definitely want to wrap my kids in cotton wool sometimes, the thought of them being bullied terrifies me but I’m also realistic in that it could potentially happen to one of them at some point. Thats why I want to be as informed as possible to help them navigate any issues like this. In general I think I’m pretty tech savvy but I also want to able to as knowledgeable as I can when it comes to issues like cyber bullying. The @vodafoneUK digital parenting hub (link in bio) gave me some brilliant thought starters and even just simple things like ‘turn off location’ for security reasons or switching off notifications so the online world wasn’t so intrusive were new ideas to me. What settings do you put in place for your kids using the internet? #familysquad #antibullyingweek
A post shared by Fritha Quinn (@tigerlillyquinn) on

I want to live in the feed of Tigerlillyquinn. All of her pictures make me smile. This picture that I've chosen to feature is adorable but it also highlights a really important issue..cyber bullying amongst children. Pop over to her picture to find out more. 






When Riley was first born, I swore up and down I would never quit my job and become a stay at home mom. I loved my job and had worked so hard to get to where I was. When Adalyn was born, I said the same thing. I lied. Deep down, I wanted nothing more than to stay with my babies everyday. As an introvert, I found that I gave everything to my job four days and week and came home with nothing left in my tank to give my family. Insert ALL the mom guilt. A few weeks ago I gathered the courage to tell my boss how I felt and to my surprise he offered to allow me to work part time from home. Needless to say, I jumped at the opportunity. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀ I am so sad to leave a job that I have loved so much, but I am also so excited for my next chapter. So excited for all the adventures I will have with my babies and all the “one day when I have the time” activities that I might actually get done. Any advice all you SAHMs out there can offer? ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ #motherhood #breastfedbaby #momlifeisthebestlife #momlife #dairyfreebreastfeeding #charlotte #charlottenc #charlottemoms #charlotteblogger #cltblogger #embracechange #setgoals #changeisgood #changeiscoming #mommyandme #beinthepicture #sahm #lastday #workfromhome
A post shared by Katie | The Brave Little Mama (@thebravelittlemama) on

The last picture I chose for the roundup is by The Brave Little Mama. It's such a happy picture and it sums up an exciting new chapter in Katie's life. 




My favourite picture from my own feed was this one which was taken on our last family photo shoot with Sweet Whimsy Photography. It was such a fun shoot and we had so many amazing photos to choose from. 

Make sure you join in with #beinthepicture over on instagram and also follow it to see everyone's pictures. 

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An Education In How To Teach Your Kids As They Travel

When it comes to traveling as with a young family, most of us keep education in mind in some form or another. Who doesn’t want their travels to teach their kids a thing or two about this wide world we live in? Isn’t that half of the argument for taking children away while they’re young in the first place? It’s fun, of course, but it’s also an educational experience. By seeing plenty of the world at a young age, your kids are set to know about everything from history to geography and even diversity.

Of course, not just any old trip brings all these benefits. Flying out to a hotel resort in Spain, for instance, won’t teach them much more than how to swim, or spend days in the sun. That’s great stuff, but focusing on this would see your kids missing out on a whole load of potential lessons.

That’s why you may want to book into destinations which include areas of historical interest. Far from sitting in your hotel day in and day out, this would allow you to take your kids for trips which stand to be educational. Get this right, and you can bet they’ll remember the lessons of a trip like this for a long time to come.

Of course, when you bring education into your time away, you do face a few pressing issues. Namely, you risk your kids losing all interest in the holiday. It’s unusual for children to embrace learning, after all, especially during their holidays. If you aren’t careful, then, they’ll switch off and not learn a thing. That’s why we have some pointers to help you ensure they both learn from and enjoy excursions like these.

Choose destinations you know could interest them

First, take the time to choose destinations with plenty you know would interest your children. If they have a fascination with the Roman empire, for instance, Rome could be ideal. If they love Aladdin the movie, why not try to India, and locations like the Taj Mahal? You name their passion, and you can bet there’s a destination out there somewhere which would suit it. By hand picking your options like this, you more than double the chances that your child will stay engaged for the duration. Having a personal connection to a place gives them a reason to get excited about seeing these things. That doesn’t ensure they’ll stay engaged for long, but it at least means they’ll have some initial excitement when heading out. You can then work with that initial excitement to ensure the whole family gets the most out of every day you’re away.

Always turn to tour guides

It’s also worth noting that you should always turn to tour guides when you visit places like these.


Kids have shorter attention spans than adults. As such, they would find it difficult to pay attention to something like this aimlessly. If you traipse around a castle like Caernarfon without structure, you’ll soon start hearing those wails of ‘can we go yet?’. By comparison, a tour guide can bring structure to the visit. That ensures those little attention spans stay focused for a whole lot longer. So, don’t embark on a trip of the Colosseum without first signing yourself up for a walking tour. Don’t visit Istanbul without first looking into a Hagia Sophia private tour guide to keep things interesting. In some destinations, you may even find that there are child-specific tours. These are sure to keep those kiddies engaged for the duration of your visit. That, in turn, guarantees they’ll learn a whole lot more than they would have otherwise.

Think about timings

It’s also worth thinking about your timings when you visit places like these. You may be happy to spend three or four hours looking around an ancient ruin, but your kids won’t be. Remember, young attention spans can't concentrate on something for long. And, why should they have to? This is a holiday, after all, not another day in school. To keep this fair and exciting, always be aware of how long you spend looking around during your excursions. As a general rule, try to keep trips like these below the two-hour mark. If you go past that point, even your best efforts to make things interesting are sure to fall flat. What’s more, long excursions like these mean your kids will be reluctant to repeat a similar experience. That’s bad news for your future efforts, so don’t let it happen. Instead, keep things short, sharp, and interesting. Leave them wanting more, rather than forcing them into begging you to leave.


*This is a collaborative post*
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Friday 16 November 2018

Disney Style with Boohoo

If you follow my Disney instagram then you'll know how much of a fan I am of wearing Disney clothes daily. Gone are the days when wearing your favourite Mouse was uncool, Disney is everywhere and all of our favourite fashion brands are embracing the trend. 

One of the fashion brands that is nailing the Disney street style trend is Boohoo who have a large range of Disney clothing to suit all shapes and sizes. They kindly sent me some items from their collection.

First up is their Mickey black denim jacket which is actually from their mens section. I got it in a size small but it's a great fit as it's large and loose so ideal for the winter. You can wear multiple layers underneath.


I was also sent this super cute Mickey icon t-shirt. I can't begin to tell you how many times I've worn it. It's so versatile. Here, I've paired it with wet look trousers, my Mickey Boohoo jacket and converse. You could wear it with a floaty midi skirt to be on trend.



Aladdin is without a doubt my favourite Disney film ever. It was actually the first film I ever watched in the cinema too. I couldn't resist this nighty. Its got my name all over it. Whenever my husband suggests a takeaway I turn into the nicest wife in the world, haha! Make sure you check out their other sleepwear as the other designs are equally as funny.



Last up is this Mickey Mouse dress. I decided to wear it with some over the knee high boots, after all, who says Disney has to just be cute!! 


I think this is my favourite look that I wore out of their collection.


They've recently released a new Disney collection and I have so much on my wishlist. Their mom Jeans look amazing.

What's your favourite item I've featured?

*Thank you to Boohoo for gifting me these items in exchange to be featured on this post*


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