This day I love.......: shopping

In approximately one months time it will be Christmas. This year is simply flying past, I am not sure where the time is going? I try to be as organised as possible for Christmas shopping, trying where I can to spread the cost throughout the year and wherever possible buying in the sale to save until later in the year.

Some items I have to wait until closer to Christmas day to buy. My children tend to change their minds quite a lot, one minute liking one thing until the next trend comes along and it is here that I have to wait to see what the ‘in’ thing is and buy just before Christmas. With a two year old in tow though I much prefer to do this kind of shopping online. Well who wants to have a two year old having a tantrum in the middle of a shopping centre? I also don’t have the stress of trying to find a parking space, or have to battle through the crowds of people to simply then have to queue for hours on end just to pick up the last few things. Internet shopping is much easier and simply much more convenient.

Certain sites allow you to spread the cost of your online shopping as well. This makes shopping for Christmas much easier, as you can spread out the cost of those presents rather than having to pay in one go and stretching finances even further. Sites like catalogues247 have all the latest fashion and electrical in one place making it a one stop shop for Christmas shopping. There is also free delivery available so I don’t have the additional cost of delivery too.

Using a site like catalogues247 means I can purchase the final few items the girls have asked for for Christmas and spread the payment out throughout the year. I can tick off those wish items too! Then once Christmas is over, and finances are less stretched I can pay for the items and begin to look in the sale to get ready for next Christmas. I find it really does help to plan ahead as best you can and spread the cost throughout the year. Do you have any top tips for helping with the cost of Christmas?

This is a featured post for which payment has been received.

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In all honesty they thought of spending all day in a shopping centre with three kids doesn't sound very appealing, especially when you throw into the mix the school holidays. Yet at the end of last week this is exactly what we did, and actually had rather a fantastic day out! I was taken by surprise by how much fun we did have, and also how little we spent.

Last week we visited York Designer Outlet. The girls needed a few last minute things for school, including feet measured for school shoes, and I had a few bits to pick up for a race over the weekend. First things first, we needed to get our priorities straight and all have some lunch. Whilst plenty of choice we settled for a favourite, Pizza Express.

I wish I had gotten the person who served us name as he was absolutely fantastic and deserves a mention. Going out of his way to talk to the kids and entertain them. It made a huge difference. Three happy kids with full tummies we set off to do a spot of shopping.

The girls feet haven't grown since their last school shoes, so they didn't need new shoes. Little Man did, so we picked him up a pair. We found all the things the girls needed. New school jackets, P.E kits, trainers and some bits for junior parkrun. I found the hydration vest I needed along with a light weight jacket for running. A rather successful shopping trip.

York designer outlet also have a range of activities on for the kids over the summer, Summer Social. In a rather large outdoor space, decorated with large bean bags, tables and chairs in bright colours, and live musicians we found circus skills. The activity does vary but even so the space was simply beautiful to sit and chill, take some time out from shopping.

The girls wasted no time trying out new skills. My eldest determined to walk on the stilts, and my youngest wanting to do everything! I got to play too, showing my eldest my stilt walking skills and my youngest how to spin a plate, that was until Little Man took a shinning to it!

The summer social space also features talented musicians. Whilst there the entertainer was having rather a lot of fun with the children. They were joining in with her, making different voice changes and it was lovely listening to the kids laughing and having fun with music too.

A ,,ore permanent addition to York designer outlet is the playground. Plenty for all three of my children to do, although it was a little busy and given the size of the playground made it tricky to watch all 3 at one point. My youngest daughter got stuck in a coil, only her! Little Man really did not want to get back in the pushchair after playing with his sisters!

It was nearing 5 before we headed for one final treat, cake and a hot drink! I actually could not believe we had spent an entire day at the outlet without one child complaining they were bored. I think that is a win in itself, let alone we managed to find all the items on our list.

We had a wonderful day at York designer outlet and are looking forward to our next visit

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It has been a quiet few days recently. The girls are not sleeping well and are currently tag teaming sleep, which means I get none at all. With little energy to do much it has been board games and reading books. Today we ventured out. We went carpet shopping. Not very exciting, although my girls seem to be able to make it fun.

We need new carpet for the stairs and top landing. The carpet is over 12 years old and was put in by the original owner who had the house built. The original owner had 3 young children and a dog, it was then used by a couple with 2 young children and finally our two children and our dogs. As you can imagine the carpet has seen better days.

We took the girls carpet shopping and I rather fancy stripes in the hall, I think it might hide some of the marks better than a plain carpet. Our hall is oak, with plain neutral walls and a blue feature wall so I wanted something to go with the room. The girls had other ideas.

I think my girls are the only people to be able to find Sparkly carpets. Yes carpets with actual glitter built in them. The boards where turned around but yet they managed to find them and then promptly started discussing which colour they would be having in their rooms.

My youngest has a laminate floor in her room and so we will not be changing her floor. My eldest however does need a new floor. With her having eczema I want to change the carpet that is in her room to a hard wood / laminate flooring. I wonder if they make sparkly laminate?

The girls were slightly disappointed I did not pick the pink with sparkles carpet, hope they like what we have fitted.

The girls were very well behaved whilst out. After a spot of shopping we went home and the girls decided to spend the rest of the afternoon riding bikes.

At bed time my eldest was practising her words with me as we always do, and I caught my youngest doing the same. She looked so grown up sitting on the chair telling a story from her book. When she started singing jolly phonics songs I realised she had been taking in what her sister had been practising.

This day I love Sparkly carpets and bed time reading

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As our summer holiday draws closer I am beginning to think more about the clothes for us all to wear. I prefer to do all my shopping on line, I find it much more convenient, and I like to have something for the whole family in one place. I have started to put together a wish list of a few ideas I have had for us and would love to know your thoughts.

Eldest

My eldest is a stereotypical girl. She loves all things pink, sparkly and has a current love for Rapunzel and Snow White. She adores playing outside and the clothes she wears needs to reflect this and give her freedom to move as well as keep her cool. I am really loving the following

It is important with our summer holiday to have a sun hat and I think this one is very fitting for my eldest. She loves hats and the pink ribbon on this is sure to be a hit. The pink ribbon also ties in beautifully with this dress. I love the beautiful colours and the lovely summery feel. I can see her running around in this and generally having some fun. I would see it more as a dress for in the evening than during the day but it is beautiful. The blue colour really suits her too. These gorgeous sandals will help to keep her cool and also give her the freedom to be active. A beautiful combination.

Youngest

My youngest is the exact opposite to my eldest. I struggle to get a dress on her, she loves mud, water and general messy things. She is incredibly independent and has a real sense of adventure. For her I think the following

I have again chosen sandals but this time in a much softer blue colour to reflect more of her personality. The hat also has the blue banding with white dots and they tie in nicely together. With my youngest having a total refusal to wear dresses and skirts [it happens very rarely that she will put one on] I have gone for denim shorts as they tend to last longer and I can dress up and down according to the occasion. The tunic style top I really loved as its made of cotton so would keep her cool, and also the design is very summery.

For Me

In many ways I am very similar to my youngest. I am a lot happier in jeans and a top than in a dress. At the moment I am really loving the colour red in my clothes and seem to be instantly drawn to them

This beautiful red sleeveless tunic instantly caught my attention. I love the detail around the neck and it would also keep me cool on those summer evenings. I added a pair of skinny jeans too, simply because I like jeans! I was drawn to these shoes, I think because of the red bow I think they would work well together.

What do you think of our holiday wish list? What would be on yours? Why not take a look where I got my inspiration from in the holiday shop. Love to hear your thoughts.

I have not received payment or items to write this post. These are my own opinions for my wish list.

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Not the best start to the 2014 Project 365. I am already late on the first weeks. Hopefully this round up will explain why

Week 2

We took a lovely winter walk to get some fresh air. My eldest loves exploring all the muddy paths and my youngest always has a good nap when we are out. The girls and I were taking pictures with the wooden play camera. I liked the pattern through the play lens and decided to take a picture with my camera through the lens, I thought it was a good image. I had to go away again for work, what a view from the hotel room.

Ok so I didn't take this photo but it is my favourite from the day. Works conference was a lot of fun, although the car parking charges were not so much fun!

By the time I had got home from work the girls were asleep, it was very late. I took the girls out for dinner after swimming on the Saturday. My eldest really loved my curry!

Week 3

We went out for Sunday lunch, and I could not believe the size of the children's portions. Neither girl ate very much and neither did I, we were all feeling under the weather. Monday the dreaded cold struck. The girls and I spent the day in bed, thankfully my Mum came to help. The virus stayed put all week and we spent the week in bed.

The girls felt better on Wednesday, although I still felt rough. We watched rather a lot of DVDs but that also meant we had lots of cuddles. I lost my voice on Thursday and the girls took full advantage, yes that is a cheeky face. I managed to drive for the first time during the week and picked the girls up from nursery. I loved it when we got home and turned round to see them holding hands.

I got rather annoyed with the supermarket only having trolleys with single seats, this meant my eldest had to sit in the trolley with the shopping. She did not seem to mind and kept putting the shopping round her and building a den.

Week 4

I was starting to feel a little crazy sat in the house so decided to get some fresh air with the girls. My eldest had lots of fun jumping in the muddy puddles. Watching her play really cheered me up and made me feel better. The girls had an in door picnic after nursery on Monday and spent Tuesday evening playing in a large card board box!

I figured I should probably take a picture of the dog. This was the look of my youngest in her I 'don't want to go to nursery'. The girls spent some time playing together which is always lovely to watch.

We took part in the RSPB bird watch survey and my eldest took great pride in marking off the birds as we saw them.

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