Handprints Magazine

We are currently offering our stallholder members free months when they recommend their friends and they join in the 2good2tip community groups.

2good2tip is all about making safer and friendlier places to buy, sell and swap your unwanted stuff.
Making community groups at your clubs, groups, schools .... and inviting your friends to join in - makes for fun and easier ways to recycling your unwanted things between each other.

Why not come along to www.2good2tip.com and see what we are all about, join in for 3 months (its only £3) and we will extend your membership free of charge when your friends join in.

Calling all mums! Registrations for our National Yummy Mummy Week are now open. Help us celebrate our 5th birthday by signing up to take part in Yummy Mummy Week which takes place on 6th – 14th March at www.yummymummy.org.uk

Well, we were expecting it... Rich spent all day on the phone to me yesterday asking "whats the snow like with you?  Can you send me text updates on the snow situation..."  Really all he wanted was the snow to come so that in the morning he would be snowed in and would have to work from home. His idea of good news is "unless your journey is essential DON"T TRAVEL" and seeing as he is doesn't do a job that is practically life or death his interpretation of this news is "Stay at home and play snowballs with the kids". What more can you ask for ? 

As i mostly work from home at the moment too that means we are enjoying a "Snow Day" getting up late, watching day time TV while blogging and catching up on the emails and phone calls while the kids play around the house and later on its the exciting task of building the great snowman in the garden and teaching the kids how to have a snowball fight - not sure its gonna go down well as charlotte is a bit of a cry baby when it comes to getting hit with things, its ok if she is doing the throwing.  

This all fits in with my new year resolutions by enjoying time with my family its keeping the work life balance.  Its certainly taken the stress out of my week. 

Enjoy the snow, stay safe and have fun.  Take advantage of the time you have and make yourself smile.  It may be travel chaos but its also great family time if you don't have to be anywhere.  

Not done very well with the losing weight and getting fit mularky... keep eating biscuits and got so hungry by 3pm as i had missed lunch and all i could do was eat a packet of yummy diam choccies from that lovely swedish furniture shop on the M32. Still feel hungry and just can't feel satisfied. Top tip - don't miss meals and remove all chocolate from the car, house and handbag.
Have managed to spend time with the kids this morning although did fall into the trap of answering emails and phone when i should have been playing with them.  Bad Mother! 
ANd... please can anyone answer me... why don't my children go to bed before 10pm EVERY NIGHT! So much for trying to work when the kids go to sleep, its either give up on sleep or give up on work. Why can't i have it all, you know kids that sleep and time to myself. 
 

Well, 2nd Jan already.  Now i usually think about my new year resolutions on boxing day - by then i have had enough food and i have a week before new year to get a grip and come up with a decent resolution or two.  it goes without saying that losing weight and getting fitter are two of them - they are always a given as come 25th dec i usually resemble a blimp or the michelin man in a dress but as this year i wasn;t pregnant or recovering from having a baby for the first time in 4 years i have no more excuses. I DO NOT WANT TO BE 40 AND FAT! So once more its got to go -I have 18 months to sort myself out as i reach 39 this year.  So, its off to slimming world or weight watchers for me (which ever meeting i prefer and fits in with my life)
Anyway i am wittering on about the obvious.  So, what other resolutions have I come up with?  Well, 2009 was a bit of a rollercoaster year for our family, in many ways it was the worst year ever but in many other ways it was probably one of the best as with Rich made redundant we got to spend a lot of time together as a family and he was very lucky to be able to be a daddy for a lot of the year while i worked like a tasmanian devil flitting from one task to the next.  Bearing that in mind my first resolution is:
1. Not take too much on
which leads to the second and third and forth....
2. Spend more time with my family
and
3. appreciate the people that matter in our lives a whole lot more - which means remembering their birthdays and stuff like that (something i am hideously terrible at doing).
4. Take time out to relax and not work 24/7

I think thats enough for now... how long will it be before i break any one of these resolutions - probably by Jan 5th after our first meetings of 2010. 

 

Where to start??!?!?   What a day I had on Saturday...

I spent the day at Cotswold Wildlife park with Stan and Toby and it was FANTASTIC!!

Loads and loads of animals in great enclosures which meant I could get right up close to them - And none of then seemed to care it was freezing  -And they all came over to say hello... wow, what an experience!

The funniest part of the day was with one of the Gibbons who was desperate to drink my tea!

We spent ages looking at the Rhino's and chatting to the keeper who was brilliant - he told us lots of great stuff...

I feel like I could rave about this place for ages... The penguins were another highlight, I felt like I was in their enclosure -  I couldnt have got any closer unless I put my swimmers on!

Stan & Toby's mummy loved the fact that there was no hassle to buy ice-creams, sweets and gifts at every turn and there were loads of picnic tables and a great park too.

Definitely recommend it... about an hour drive from Bristol and cheaper than most parks and zoo's.

I'll load some more pics tomorrow!!!

Soooo much fun at Mayhem today with Toby & Stan... although my arms and legs a little sore (Stan wanted to take me on the twirly slide and Toby wanted to take me on the bouncy castle! Ouch!!)

Crazy fun for an hour and half - half price entry too with the voucher in Handprints Magazine

Then drinks and chocolate - yum yum!!!

Mayhem at Riverside Leisure - Station Rd, Little Stoke - 01454 888666

Today i met Toby at Spacecats in Bradley Stoke Leisure Centre. Toby and me enjoyed playing in the ball pit, climbing and playing with all the other children we met - we met Ben, Thomas, Stan and Charlotte.  I love spacecats and so does mummy, she says it's big enough to run around and use up my energy but small enough to be safe for all of us together. Great for all ages! 

In typical multi tasking mode today has seen a variety of jobs done - and not done - so here's a day in the life of a handprints director...
sort out kids, ask hubby to take over while i start work, deal with admin on debutots, take phone calls about accounts, new buisness, advertisers, debutots customers, take delivery of brand new North Bristol Magazine WOO HOO!  answer more phone calls, write a newsletter to customers, arrange delivery schedule, send husband out to buy printer cartridges then send him back out as he came back with none but did get lunch, discuss high level buisness decisions with Lisa, check kids are ok, have lunch, more admin, phone calls and do the washing, write a blog and its not even 1.30pm.  I WANT A DAY OFF!