Get bargains at Amazon Black Friday

Christmas coming... have you bought your presents yet?

I always check what Amazon Black Friday has to offer. Last year we got a beautiful and very cheap set of watch and necklace for Cuchi, very pinky as she likes it!

Electronics are probably the best deals but there are also very nice chocolates for a fraction of the price...

Today, they started Black Friday again for a week, until the 25th November 2012. So get yourself ready to buy absolute bargains!!!

Milk for free in the airport

I asked for some milk for my baby at the Pret at Luton and they kindly gave it to me for free. They asked if chilled or warm and pour it in the bottle. Love this kindness!!!

Well, we actually wanted to buy some milk but there wasn't any in the counters.

That's great!

Thanks Pret!

Weather influence in my garden

Bad weather has made an impact in my garden. I am sure this is happening in most English gardens.

Fruits in my garden:

Cherries:
We generally harvest cherries the end of June. So far they are very green, so I think we will have to wait a couple of weeks more.

Green cherries

Strawberries:
The strawberries are growing slowly. The general season in the UK is from May to August. We had our first edible and sweetie strawberry yesterday (24th June). My daughter had the privilege to pick it, she was so happy!

First strawberry picked by Cuchi

More to come

And more!

Flowers in my garden:

Roses:

I have more than fifty pink roses in my garden, they have flourished quite late this year. Last year, they were out in May.

Bleeding heart:
This flowers come out in the Spring, around March or April. I still have some flowers at the end of June. They are gorgeous!

There are more to come: tomatoes, pears, peppers, beans, but they are just growing little by little.

Tip of the day: Healthcare abroad

European Health Insurance Card (EHIC)

Summer holidays are almost here and I am getting ready for it.

I have registered my daughters for the EHIC (European Health Insurance Card). With this card while you are visiting an EEA country or Switzerland, you can be treated as if you were a National, so this means healthcare reduced cost or sometimes free. This doesn't cover private treatment, so it is always safe to have a travel insurance as well. Also, this doesn't cover situation when the patient goes abroad specifically for treatment.

Never is too late to apply for it. As your kids receive an NHS number when they are born, you can immediately apply to avoid forgetting it. In any case, I got mine in 12 days, so it's not bad at all.

The most important thing: It's FREE!!!

For more information:
www.nhs.uk/healthcareabroad
http://www.nhs.uk/NHSEngland/Healthcareabroad/EHIC/Pages/about-the-ehic.aspx

Cheer for England in the Euro Cup 2012

To celebrate and to cheer for England in the Euro Cup 2012, I have prepared a cheesecake similar to the one I made to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee. However, I am not putting blueberries, only raspberries. The decoration represents the English flag.


I have made this cake with my daughter, see the recipe here.

England flag cheesecake

Raspberries!

Euro Cup 2012

Finally Friday, end of the last half-term of the academic year in England. So what do the next few days have for us?

Euro Cup: a couple of weeks of football (soccer) starting today and finishing on the 1st of July.

Just had the pleasure to watch a bit of the game Poland-Greece, my daughters "allowed" me to have the TV on with Football. Can't believe this helped to make Cuchi play with Boo-boo. Well, lets see if they "allow" us to watch England or Spain matches!

After the Euro Cup:

• Wimbledon (tennis): From 25th June to 8th July we will be delighted with the great stars: Djokovic, Nadal, Federer, Murray.
• Olympics: starting on the 27th July we will enjoy the Olympic sports until 12th August.

And there is much much more!

Celebrating the Diamond Jubilee

As many British and not British who live in the UK, we are doing "something" to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee. I am not into Monarchy, but like to celebrate and be part of the celebration, especially when we get one more day holiday!

We have watched the Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant on Sunday 3rd June. Today 4th June we went down to the park but it was very windy, we are going to have an afternoon tea consisting of: tea, scones with jam and butter, pastries and finger sandwiches. I have prepared this special cake to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee, it has a Union Jack decoration on top. The recipe is very easy!

My daughter (dressed in white, blue and red) trying to eat the cheesecake!

Easy Diamond Jubilee Union Jack cheesecake

Later in the evening after the girls go to bed, we will watch the BBC Concert at Buckingham Palace.

Girls and I have dressed in blue, red and white!

What have you done during the long Bank Holiday?

Vegetarian lasagna al forno

I decided to make this lasagna al forno today and the girls absolutely loved it!

Click for the recipe.

Source: Susana Suarez

Source: Susana Suarez

It was not a cold day so it suited perfectly! Garnished with tomato and baby spinach salad and a great Chianti!

Ready Parenting tip of the day #7: Do not forget!

Sometimes we are just running around doing lots of stuff that forget little, but important, things.


The following has happened to me and to many people, so I have tips to avoid it from happening again:


Buggy crash:


What happened?
I left my Maclaren buggy by the boot of the car while I was putting the girls in their car seats. I forgot about the buggy, turn on the car and started to reverse it. Craaash! Fortunately, I didn't damage the buggy but I got the lesson.


Tip:
I will always open the boot before putting the girls in the car, in that way I will remember I have to put something in!

Locked out:


What happened?
I got locked out a couple of times and once my baby was inside! Fortunately, I have family living close by so I could get in.


Tip:
My father encouraged me to keep the keys in my pocket all day. I am doing it unless I have no pockets, but most of the times I have them!




Hope these tips are useful!

Baby socks flower in a cup

These cute flower made of little socks are great and inexpensive for a baby shower or a new baby present. 

This is your shopping list in case you like to make it for a baby girl:

• Socks: 5 pairs baby Elle BE004 ankle socks pinks 3-5 (12-24 Months) I used 3 pairs for the top and kept 2 pairs folded in the bottom.
• Mug: I love my Mummy Mug
• Ribbon: 1m Baby Girl Pink Satin Ribbon - Card Making Scrapbook
• Pritt Glue Dots Repositionable 64 x double sided

It is very easy to do, just follow the instructions in the video:

Read more: How to make baby socks flowers in a cup

Ready Parenting Tip of the Day #6: Save money with Kidstart

If you live in the UK, you can save money for your kids using Kidstart. I wouldn't recommend it enough!... I have made close to £100 of savings for my kids already!


Kidstart is  a free website (shopping club) where members can collect money for their children. Anyone can collect cash: parents, family members, friends, colleagues, etc. Retailers offer a specific amount of money or per cent savings per purchase.


It's free, no hassle, you just have to go through the website to find your retailer and make the purchase, is that easy!


You have a statement that shows clearly your savings by retailer and by source. It also shows the amount transferred. You can add as many children as you have and split the savings. When you have a specific amount saved, the money is transferred to the children savings or ISA account or trust fund. If your child doesn't have any of those yet, don't worry, keep the savings until you open an account. But you better open one soon to get the interest.


If you are pregnant, open the account and remember to make your new baby shopping through Kidstart. There are lots of things to buy at that early stage so I recommend you to save some money.


My trick is:

• Use Kidstart to compare prices of the items to shop
• Use Kidstart vouchers if there are any
• Buy through Kidstart to get savings back for your kids
• Use a credit card that gives you points or miles to pay

And invite family and friends to buy using your Kidstart so you get savings back for your kids!


If your company allows it: buy flight tickets or stationery using Kidstart!


Be smart and save!!

London Olympics 2012 - family event

The Olympics starting day is approaching faster and there are plenty of activities to do to celebrate this great event.

The Olympic Torch is arriving to the UK today 18th May 2012. First stop is Cornwall and then it travels across the UK. I am one of the 95% people whose house is within 10 miles from the torch route. Well, I would say we are not even half a mile distance from where it is going to travel. Therefore most of the people in the country can line up to see it pass, you can bring the children too!

Olympic torch second bearer in Olympia
Source: London 2012

There is a new App London 2012 Join In that is available to download. It is the free companion guide for the Olympic games.


During the Olympic games, we will bring along Cuchi to see Women's Football and Women's Hockey. It's great children's tickets only cost the amount equal to their age!

I will write more about this great event shortly!



Keepsakes Mandeville and Wenlock

Ready Parenting tip of the day #4: Keep an eye on the soup

If you are like me, very busy at home. You are a multitasker. However, you have to be very careful to avoid burning the soup, like I did this morning.

When you make soup, you generally wait till it boils and then simmer it. I started to do something else out of the kitchen: tidy up, put baby in bed for a nap, etc.

The soup boiled for about an hour. When I realised I had to check on the soup, it was almost all gone! Fortunately this time I made a huge pot, so it didn't burn, but it was almost all gone. I had to replenish the water and made it boil again. Don't do this if it burns!

The tip is: put the timer: to be on the safe side I put 10 minutes to boil, so then I would reduce the temperature to simmer it. So keep an eye on the soup!

Ready Parenting Tip of the Day #6: Sing while you change a nappy

Sometimes toddlers are really difficult when it comes to change a nappy. They want to crawl away from you, they kick, roll, move all over... and cry!

I have a tactic that I generally apply when I am on my own: I sing!


But I don't sing nursery rhymes or the latest song in the charts, I sing the Do-Re-Mi song from the Sound of Music! One of my favourite movies from all times!

Yes, you must think I am a bit crazy, well it works, but it does when you really sing it loud and with all the power in your voice. Like how you sing when you are in the shower, if you do so.

I, neither have a great voice nor a great tune, but I feel it's not that bad as I know my toddler won't judge me.


When I start to sing: "Let's start at the very beginning..." trying to make Julie Andrews beautiful voice and tune. I also smile, make eye contact and vocalise as good as I can. I imagine the scenes of the movie, so that makes the whole thing more powerful. Boo-boo just stares at me... Let me tell you I did exactly the same with Cuchi and it also worked so I decided to share this tactic with you ;-)


For the  readers  in the UK                                             For the readers in the US:
                                                            

Mother's Day and Mother's Index

Sunday 13th (second Sunday of May) is Mother's Day in several countries. Do you want to check if your country is a good place for mothers?

Image: Naypong / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Save the Children recently published a report titled Nutrition in the First 1,000 Days that presents the Mother's Index.


The Mother's Index is a combined ranking from Women's Index and Children's Index:

• Women's Index covers: lifetime risk of maternal death, percent of women using contraception, female life expectancy at birth, expected number of years of formal female education, maternity leave benefits (length and % of wages payment), ratio of estimated female to male earned income, government women's participation.
• Children's Index covers: under-5 mortality rate, gross pre-primary enrollment ratio.

The top best places to be a mother are:	The bottom places to be a mother are:
1 Norway 2 Iceland 3 Sweden 4 New Zealand 5 Denmark 6 Finland 7 Australia 8 Belgium 9 Ireland 10 Netherlands / United Kingdom	156 Dr Congo 156 South Sudan 156 Sudan 159 Chad 160 Eritrea 161 Mali 162 Guinea-Bissau 163 Yemen 164 Afghanistan 165 Niger

The report also presents the Infant and Toddler Score card that shows where young children have the best and the worst nutrition. It includes the percentage of children that were put to the breast within 1 hour of birth, exclusively breastfed (first 6 months), breastfed with complementary food (6-9 months), breastfed at age 2 (20-23 months).


Four developing countries scored very good (9 out of 10 score): Malawi, Madagascar, Peru and Solomon Islands. The worse countries in terms of this score were: Somalia, Côte d'Ivoire, Botswana and Equatorial Guinea.


The report also presents a comparison among developed countries in terms of breastfeeding.


Have a read, it's very interesting and informative and then, go and get something nice to your beloved mother!

Tommee Tippee Easivent teats

If you have a Tommee Tippee Easivent bottles or another brand with a hole in the teat like the ones below:

Tommee Tippee Easivent teats

... I recommend you to always pinch the valve from the inside, especially when purchased and then after washes. Therefore, you will avoid the valve closing (being stuck) and stopping the air coming into the bottle. 


When the milk is drank, the air comes into the bottle. If the valve is closed, the teat will be suctioned as there is no air coming inside to replace the liquid.




If this happens in the middle of a feed, stop and change the teat. If you are still sterilising, I recommend you to always put two teats and two bottles at a time, it comes handy with something like this happens.


I love Tommee Tippee and these bottles, I have used them with my two girls: Cuchi and Boo-boo.


Good luck!

Ready Parenting tip of the day #5: Be careful with bath toys

Be careful with mildew growth in bath toys. I took some pictures of some the girls' bath toys and decided to do some research about mildew. Have a look at my latest article Bath toys: a mildew colony?.

I am sharing some of the pictures I took, have a look and see how disgusting it can be:

Look at the mildew grown inside, it can be seen from the hole.

This one has mildew externally

I cut the toy in half to expose the mildew. It's rubbish!!!

Disgusting!!!!

Be careful as mildew is very dangerous for your health. Remember children play with these toys squeezing the water out of them, so you can imagine what else is coming out of it...

What to do with the kids if you are organising a baby shower

Traditionally baby showers are for ladies or mixed with partners. Sometimes there are kids involved too. But, what would you do if you want to do the baby shower kids-free?


Besides, begging dads to take care of the children, you can organise the baby shower in a soft-play centre. Most of these places have extra rooms that you can rent for a couple of hours for the baby shower while dads take care of the children in the soft-play area.


This can be a solution if most of the guests have children between 0 and 11 years old.


Have a look at my tips on how to plan a great baby shower here.



Beware: you will have to provide some snacks and drinks for the children and dads at the end of the play. Below you can see some of the food we have at my last baby shower:

Good luck with your baby shower!

Ready Parenting tip of the day #3: Do not show other kid's presents to your kids

If you have girly girls like Cuchi (my 3 year old daughter), you are better off not showing birthday presents you buy for another girl. The reason is simple: they would like that present and would be sad.

I simply buy presents and wrap them myself without her, it is easier, uncomplicated and avoids issues.

If the present is for the opposite sex you might be fine showing the present to your boy/girl. I think boys are less complicated than girls in this matter anyway. But if you know your boy likes cars, avoid going shopping with him to get a car for a friend. Likewise, if you girl likes dollies, avoid going shopping with her to buy dollies for a girl friend.

If you are going to buy something your little girl or boy already has, you might be on the safe side!

Good luck!

New cartoons vs old cartoons

I remember the cartoons I used to watch when I was little:

• Scooby Doo that had scary scenes
• Tom & Jerry with fights between the cat and mouse
• The Flinstones, I don't think this was aimed at little kids but we used to watch them

I am just trying to figure out what these cartoons taught me. 

Cartoons from the new millennium are more inclined to teach something to children. Some examples of these types of cartoons are: Dora the Explorer, Little Einsteins and Go Diego Go. You can read an article about what they teach here.

My favourite episodes are:

Ready Parenting Tip of the day #2: If your children have soft toys (have an identical spare one)

Last night when Cuchi went to bed, she realised her Makka Pakka cuddly was not on her bed. She sleeps with that Makka Pakka since we got it for her over two years ago. We take it with us everywhere we travel.

It seems that Boo-boo was playing with it in the morning. Daddy put it in the stairs and closed the gate to avoid Boo-boo losing it somewhere in the house.

We looked for Makka Pakka everywhere! In every room, under beds, behind furniture, in the toilet, in cupboards. Cuchi was in her bedroom waiting for us. So, Daddy decided to ask Cuchi for her help. She helped us looking for Makka Pakka... and suddenly she remembered she had put it away to avoid Boo-boo taking it. She put it inside one of the kitchen drawers...

If we had another one, we could have replaced it quickly and avoid that half an hour of anguish looking for that toy!

Ready Parenting tip of the day #1 - Buy wrapping paper and greeting cards in bulk

I'm starting the Ready Parenting tip of the day as there are hundreds of useful tips I would like to share.

Today we have a party to go. I avoid buying paper bags for kids presents, I wrap them up with wrapping paper as it is cheaper.

What is cheaper than wrapping paper? Wrapping paper bought in bulk!

If you buy them in bulk, you won't just save some money, you will have wrapping paper ready. One thing less to think about! I do the same with greeting cards.

UK readers can buy 10 SHEETS OF HAPPY BIRTHDAY WRAPPING PAPER and 50 mixed selection pack of birthday / greeting cards at Amazon UK.

US readers can buy a Bulk Pack of 25 - Animal print Happy Birthday flat wrapping paper (Each) By Bulk Buys and an Assorted Children's Birthday Greeting Cards 30 Pack

Or you can make your own!!

Note: this tip doesn't work if you live in a very humid place where wrapping paper can get humid and smelly.

April showers intensify allergies

First of all, let's define allergy:

"An allergy is the response of the body's immune system to a normally harmless substance such as pollen, food, house dust mite" (source: Allergy UK).

April showers is the common term that refers to the rain occurring in the month of April or spring time.


It is widely known that during spring time, pollen or grass allergy sufferers simply agonise. I am an example of this! Teary eyes, dripping and itchy nose are body reactions to a threat or allergen. The allergen is the pollen or grass. Therefore, in spring time, when the pollen index is at its maximum, the allergies rise.


Now, what happens when it rains during the spring? Do April showers intensify allergies? Although rain clears the air (so, in theory, reduces the pollen in the air), when rain stops, it makes plants and grass grow. Therefore, it helps pollen to spread, so allergic people tend to suffer more.


Any solutions? As we cannot stop rain, we can keep an arsenal of antihistamines at home or in the office. Some examples below:

Antihistamines will help you cope with the day to day activities at home or in the office. Don't suffer, do something about it!

What to do on a rainy day?

Reservoirs in England must be filling up very quickly now. At least, that is what we expect and hope. It's been raining for two weeks non stop and the rain  promises to stay.

So what to do on a rainy day if we have kids?

Cuchi goes to Ballet, indoor tennis and swimming. What else? We have playdates with her pre-school friends and we do activities like:

• Playing with her tunnel toy. Both girls go through it and enjoy a lot!!

• Paint and colouring. I go to the Pound store (dollar store) to buy stickers and colouring pads that are used on a rainy day.
• Dress up! Kids love to dress up. Try getting some dress up clothes second hand in charity shops boot sales. They become handy on a rainy day!
• Read books
• Watch a movie or go to the movies. Although my girls are little, some older kids could go to matinee sessions.
• There are plenty of rainy day activities for free. 

When you go out and about on a rainy day, bring an extra pair of clothes. Cuchi got wet today, fortunately I'm always prepared and she got changed!

Good luck and don't get wet!

Pre-School admissions outcome

We received the outcome of pre-school admissions on the evening of Wednesday 18th April. Fortunately for us, it was a good result. We got our first choice of pre-school for Cuchi.

We had to apply for schools by 15th January and then wait 3 long months for the result. Many people is not happy as they didn't get their first or second choice.

A friend of my husband said that he got the 3rd choice and it is an hour away from home. That sounds ridiculous!

My first choice of school is a two-form, it has two classes of thirty students each. Out of the sixty places, thirty four were siblings. More than half, that means more than one class!

Next steps:
We have to accept or reject the offer within 2 weeks. Then the council will inform the school and the school will get in touch with the accepted families.

What to do if you don't like the outcome:
You don't accept and can request to be in the waiting list for your first choice. It is a good idea to do this as many people decline their previous option.

You can appeal, but the probability to get a positive outcome is slim.

Good luck!

Cuchi and Boo boo

Since this is my first post, I decided to introduce my two girls by their nicknames:

Cuchi:

Cuchi (pronounced as "coochi") is my eldest daughter. She is a three and a half lovely girly girl that seems to go through puberty sometimes. I gave her this nickname because Cuchi is the Spanish slang for cute.

Her favourite colours are pink and purple. Her favourite cuddly is Makka Pakka from "In the Night Garden" although she already outgrown the show. Her single flowered duvet cover is from Cath Kidston and she has a Disney Princesses banner which includes Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Belle and Snow White. However, her favourite princess is Cinderella.

Cuchi loves to read books, or pretend to read books. Some of her favourite are from Julia Donaldson, Dora the Explorer, Spot and Dr. Seuss.

Her favourite activities are watching TV, going to the park and shopping... Her favourite TV programs are Peppa Pig, Ben and Holly's Little Kingdom, Dora the Explorer, Mickey Mouse, Jack and the Neverland Pirates, Max and Ruby, The Hive and Humf.

Cuchi goes to pre-school and attends a few classes like swimming, tennis and occasionally gymnastics. She loves playdates!


Boo-boo:
Boo-boo my thirteen months old baby. Still my little baby, she is growing and growing, walking and almost running.  Boo-boo is becoming a toddler.

I gave her this nickname because I used to say Cuchi was like Yogi Bear, the one who knows the tricks and the baby was Boo-boo because she follows Yogi.

Although little, Boo-boo likes to watch some of Cuchi's favourite programs. She loves walking, opening cupboards and drawers, Cuchi's toy piano, remote controls and phones. Not a surprise as she is starting to discover the big world out there.

Boo-boo goes swimming classes since she was six month old, she goes to nursery four mornings a week to socialise with other babies and adults. I think this is very important for her and for me.


My mornings are dedicated to do occasional freelance work, house chores, project planning and writing.

I will post my adventures and misadventures with my two jewels. We have great moments and great lines to share.