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?

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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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