It’s pretty much a month later and I am finally joining in the weekly update again! Oops. Naturally we have been up to a lot in that time.

13^th Birthday

For my son’s birthday I bought donut decorating sets from Doughnut Time. I thought it would be a nice birthday activity for him. They both enjoyed it.

We also went out for pizza to celebrate. Although I swear he ate his dinner quickly just to get back home to go on his console!

Tree

We had to have a tree taken down in our garden after the storms damaged one of the three that were all connected. I was sad to see it go. Especially as we have a wood pigeon family that were very attached to it. I have seen them looking at the empty space rather forlornly. On the plus side we did have plenty of wood for our log burner – so silver linings and all that! Particularly given the rising costs of heating our homes nowadays.

Date Night

We finally used our date night box and it was so much fun. Using the app, we listened to music to set the mood, whilst playing the Pictionary game on the tablecloth they included. Then we modelled our pottery. Our efforts are now drying ready to be painted white then varnished. I think once we have sorted out our finances (what with raising electricity costs etc) I might make the Box42 subscription a regular thing! That quality time together as a couple is so important.

Wins

I have had some more competition wins since I last wrote. The main one being a year’s supply of Joe and Seph’s gourmet popcorn. There was quite a mix of flavours with some very interesting combinations. As a family we definitely preferred the sweet versions. I gave away most of the savoury ones to someone I knew would appreciate them. Luckily with 52 bags there was still plenty for my family.

I have a box of Booja-Booja truffles on the way from a twitter win! Personally I love their truffles so can’t wait for them to arrive.

I also had an instagram win which was a Instant Effects beauty bag set worth £72, so feeling very pleased with myself! Although the fact I am spending so much time entering competitions might explain which I have had less time to write more regular updates…

Valentines

My husband and I went out for a wine tasting evening and followed it with a couple of Valentine cocktails. I don’t normally drink so had the most amazing time until I felt truly awful! Even looking at alcohol now a few weeks later makes me feel a bit under the weather! So definitely back to my usual cups of tea instead! But it was nice to let my hair down and go a little wild (very) occasionally!

Holiday

We had a little break away. We stayed in Hotel Rudyard, which was a lovely hotel. It was nice finding out our night stay ended up being in a cottage instead, so we had an extra living room and kitchen area we were not expecting! Always a bonus having extra space especially when holidaying with teens!

Breakfast my boys and I had the pancakes and there were plenty of them.

It would be nice to return in warmer weather to enjoy a longer walk around the lake.

Whilst away we headed to Scrumbles cake shop in Leek. I finally tried a cookie pie! I was glad I have ticked it off my list but it was very sweet. I must admit I did prefer my chocolate orange brownie more in the end.

On the way home we stopped off at Hover Force and the boys all did the live rounds shooting. The hovercraft experiences they do there looked amazing, so that’s something to hopefully do in the future. My youngest has another year before he is old enough.

My eldest also had a young drivers driving lesson whilst we were away. He did a great job and just needs a bit more practice with clutch control.

Blogging

On the blog lately we have plenty of posts about pets. Such as pet friendly flooring and how to settle in your rescue cat to the benefits of having a family pet. Then for those interested in health we have self-care before bedtime.

Hopefully I won’t leave the next update quite so long!