Things To Do - May 2017

A new month and even more activities needed to keep Sophia entertained! I've been looking around online and managed to create this little list of things happening in and around Aberdeen during May! If you know of an activity, run an activity or even attended one of the events on this list I would love to hear from you! Hopefully this helps some of you grown ups out there, I know how difficult it can be thinking of ways to keep the kids happy and it's also nice for us adults to do some socialising. 

NCT Sling Meet

Crown Terrace Methodist Church

3/5/17

Now personally I never tried baby wearing when Sophia was younger, before I had Sophia I never even knew this was a thing. I remember how popular it was amongst parents on baby groups/pages I was part of. The NCT sling meet starts at 10:00 and is on until 12:00, you have the opportunity to meet other parents which is always a plus, you can try slings and I believe you can even hire slings. Every parent I've known to attend a sling meet in and outside of Aberdeen has always had very positive things to say and found the meets very useful. 

May The Fourth Be With You

Castle Fraser Garden & Estate

4/5/17

Now I wasn't 100% sure about including this event as I know it's way past Sophia's bedtime, but saying that it may help some of you out who have older children or you might be huge Star Wars fans and want to do something different! This is a drive in cinema experience ( I love that more of these are happening around Aberdeen!) and according to the National Trust Scotland website the film begins at 19:30 although cars can appeared 45 minutes before the film is due to start. 

Hit The Road - Motorbike Enthusiast Meet Up

Haddo House

6/5/17

We are really looking forward to this one and it's bound to be a great family day out. Bruce no doubt will be bringing his motorbike along to Haddo House and we will be trailing behind in the car! We are keeping everything crossed that it's a lovely day! This is a free event but a donation would be help the organisers continue this event next year! You can also enjoy a walk around the grounds, let the kids play in the park and check out the delicious cafe! 

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial 35th Anniversary Outdoor Cinema

Crathes Castle, Garden & Estate

6/5/17

I feel like all I have done is give you film options but I am loving these outdoor cinema experiences. Why not relive the 80's and grab the chance to see E.T. in style! Again this is a later event so maybe better for older children, the film starts at 19:00 and finishes at 21:00.

Movies For Juniors

Cineworld

Saturday & Sunday mornings

A trip to the cinema can be super pricey, throw a child into the mix and it's not long before the sweet smell of popcorn has them crying out for a snack. Movies For Juniors is a great time to take your children to the cinema, my reservations with taking Sophia to the cinema is the thought of, "will I spend a fortune and she won't sit still or perhaps she won't be interested in the film.". Thankfully the super discounted prices starting from only £2 mean that if Sophia does decide she's not in the mood to sit still, we can quite easily leave and not have paid a small fortune. I believe the films change weekly so I recommend contacting your local Cineworld to find out what's on & times! 

Special Requirements Evening

Hoodles Playbarn

25/5/17

I love the fact more places are holding sessions for children who may find the usual soft play experience too much to handle. Hoodles Play barn hold an event on the last Thursday of every month from 17:30-19:30. I can imagine it's a fantastic opportunity for your child to enjoy the Hoodles experience without it being overbearing. Mum's & Dads also have the opportunity to relax a little. Wouldn't it be amazing if more establishments had events like this? I would also love to know if you are aware of any similar events in and around Aberdeen! 

Messy Play

What child doesn't love some messy play!? Held in various locations on all different days and times I didn't want to list just one option. A quick look on google can help you find the best option for you and your little one. You can even try some messy play at home from painting to making your own slime, Pinterest is a gold mine for messy play ideas. Messy Play classes are a great way to get out & about and meet new people and tend to be fairly inexpensive!

Doonies Rare Breeds Farm

Only 15 minutes from Aberdeen City Centre by car, Doonies Farm covers 134 acres from Nigg Bay to Cove.  Open 10:00-16:00 with last entry at 15:00. Doonies Farm is closed Monday & Tuesday expect on School Holidays and is a great day out. A family ticket which permits 2 adults and a maximum of three children is only £10, children under 2 go free  and you can even bring a picnic along for when you start to feel a bit peckish.  You will see a big mix of animals and now is the perfect time to visit, why not go and see if you can spot any of the new arrivals at Doonies Farm?

Mini Tennis

Westburn Tennis Centre & Ruthrieston Outdoor Sport Centre

Introduce your child to the world of tennis! Suitable for ages 3-10, With smaller courts, nets and rackets and lower bouncing balls, LTA Mini Tennis offers the perfect introduction to the sport, with all the fun and energy of the real thing. There are four stages of LTA Mini Tennis; Tots, Red, Orange and Green, each with their own court size and type of ball. This tailored approach enables players to develop vital skills and techniques at an early age. You can take a look at the timetables and how to sign up here! 

Newburgh Beach

Why not come along to Newburgh and visit our beach! Nicknamed seal beach it's a quiet beach compared to Aberdeen. Only a 15/20 minute drive and you can take in the views of the colony of seals that like to rest at the mouth of the Ythan River. You could also take a short trip to the Forvie National Nature Reserve and stop for lunch at the Newburgh Inn. You could also venture along to Ellon and try out the new dessert parlour, Ice Dreams!

I am not affiliated with any of the events or companies mentioned above. These are my personal suggestions and I hope that some may come in useful!

Mummy Pamper Time

Hi everyone, long time no see! I have been really rubbish at keeping my blog up to date. I just haven't had much to write about. I blame the colder, darker winter months. Lately it has been the same thing day in & day out. Finally the lighter nights are here, the weather does occasionally decide to treat us to some sunshine and even Sophia is starting to leave her hibernation mode! Over the winter months I've seriously let myself go. Eating uncontrollably, my skin has been a mess, my hair is the worst it has ever looked... like a weird in between colour and absolutely no style. This just isn't like me at all. Once upon a time I looked half decent. I'm not talking weekly manicures, layers of makeup and big bouncy hair decent but just more human.

This could possibly seem very petty to some people but I want to feel more like me, take better care of myself and I think this blog could just be the thing to get my butt kicked into gear. Who doesn't want to feel nice about themselves? I am considering doing a weight loss post once a week... you can all tell me off if those numbers on the scales don't go down! I have A LOT of weight to shift. Also since stopping working I have been feeling so unmotivated so I have been looking into little projects I can do. Some with Sophia, others more grown up based. I have a serious urge to make some bath bombs. Totally random I know but what can I say? I need random little things to do, I am sick and tired of the same routine. Anyone with hobbies/activities they like to do at home feel free to share! I would love some inspiration. Maybe there is something you really want to do? I would really love to hear from you.

We also have the Easter Holidays coming up, Sophia will be off for 2 weeks from the 31st. My goal for the holidays is to be out of the house as much as possible, even if it's just going on mini adventures to places we haven't been before. Sophia absolutely loves being outside and exploring, a happy Sophia means a happy Mummy. 

I'm really looking forward to keeping my blog up to date with all of our adventures. 

Speak soon x

Festive fun

Hi everyone I hope you all had a lovely Christmas. I can't believe how busy I have been, I went from thinking "oh these holidays will be nice and relaxed" to crazy regimented mummy in a split second, running around like a headless chicken. This was the first Christmas in four years that my older sister Michelle & her partner Dean had been home so we have been spending a lot of time with family.

Our first date in the diary was going to my partner's uncles Christmas party which was great fun, we sang carols, Santa visited the children and watching Sophia have a ball as well as getting to cuddle into my seven month old Nephew Dylan whilst spending time with my other Niece & Nephew's was brilliant.

Then it all becomes a bit blurry, their was shopping thrown in, visiting family and more shopping... fighting with ridiculously glittery paper from Tesco which all went in the bin and then hunting for glitter free paper happened. Who else decided to purchase the lovely sparkly paper from Tesco and within 5 seconds of opening the stuff was cursing Tesco for making it look like a unicorn pooped all over their house!?

Christmas eve Sophia was a bit under the weather but we managed to do some Christmas themed colouring in and we popped some reindeer food outside that Sophia made with her nursery. Then we had a Chinese takeaway and watched Scroodged when Sophia went up to bed.

Christmas day we got up, had my dad pop round in the morning, opened some presents and Sophia played away until it was time to get ready to head over to Bruce's parents house for more present opening and our meal with his mum, dad & brother. His mum cooked up a feast for 60 people not 6. Seriously she had the choice of around seven puddings!!! Bruce and I are also now proud owners of a Go Pro camera and I cannot wait to start using it. So Dad if you somehow stumble onto my mummy blog then thank you so much we love it!

Boxing day we were the host's and had my mum, older sister, her partner and my younger sister round. Had some party nibbles and opened even more presents. Sophia loved her Cinderella dress from her Grandma. She has also basically moved into this book that converts into a carriage and has decided to live in all of her new pj's.

The past few days we have been watching films, Trolls seems to be the movie of choice and I love it, I cannot help but sing along and have a dance with Sophia, lounging around, eating far too much food and being chased by Sophia and her new Hank toy (Finding Dory). I really need to get off my butt and go and get more party nibbles for Hogmanay (NYE for you non Scottish folks out there). I also fancy another bottle of Prosecco. I have also been working on my new business which you can find on facebook "pearl cove jewellery". It's very much still a working progress but I have a competition running which ends at 8pm on the 30/12/16 so feel free to enter!

I would love to hear what you got up to for Christmas and myself, Bruce and Sophia would like to wish you all a very happy New Years when it comes around!

salt dough fun

December has meant Sophia's nursery hours have been all over the place with Christmas parties, nursery plays and Christmas activities. Usually she is in during the afternoon but this month a few sessions were swapped to morning sessions. Then I get the dreaded call that they had messed up with the dates and could I have her in nursery within 30 minutes. 100% not happening, I'm in my pj's, she is running around refusing to wear clothes whilst occasionally paying attention to her breakfast. Even after being a mother for just over three years I haven't mastered how to get ready and out the door quickly. I need to plan in my head and work to a schedule, it is like a military drill. Instead we decided to do a food shop together and plan some activities we could do. Then the light bulb moment happened and salt dough Christmas decorations were on the itinerary for the day.

If you haven't used salt dough before it's simple, literally salt, flour and water. A cup of each adding the water slowly to get your dough to the right consistency and then it's ready to squish, roll and cut into whatever shape your heart desires. For us it was hearts and gingerbread men shapes. Now I forgot to leave my dough to rest but they are currently in the oven, they have raised slightly but not too much. You can add food colouring to the dough or paint them using acrylic paint. I'm hoping ours can be used as decorations for the tree. 

Sophia had great fun playing with the dough, mixing everything together and getting her hands a bit messy. So there you have it, a cheap, cheerful and easy to do toddler pleasing activity! I would to see some of your creations!

Out of the oven and ready to paint! I am slightly concerned my gingerbread men have grown boobs... cant really see it in the photo and i'm hoping that its not really obvious when we paint them!

Weekend Edit - 11/12/16

Why do weekends fly by? It's been a great weekend but I'm not ready for it to come to an end! Saturday Sophia and I were pretty lazy and lounged around in our pj's nearly all day, Bruce was needing to fix the alarm system on his car, it kept going off constantly during the night/early hours in the morning last week. I'm sure our neighbours loved us, me stumbling out onto the street, half asleep, falling out with the noisy alarm and bright bloody lights flashing on & off. Well in case any of my neighbours read this, I can report that Bruce's car should now be silent! We can all crawl into bed and not have to wonder if the antisocial car is going to rudely waken us all up. Yay!

Whilst Bruce dealt with that we added some finishing touches to our Christmas decorations. Eventually showered and wondered out for a drive down Union Street to see the Christmas lights, Sophia was more fascinated watching the buses and people. This meant I'm driving along going "wooooow" & "ooooo look at that pretty one" for absolutely no reason. Somehow Sophia and myself ended up grabbing a takeaway from our favourite Chinese takeaway place. I just couldn't deal with cooking!

On Sunday we were off out to see Frozen on ice! This was Sophia's first big show, she tends to hate loud noises so we weren't sure how it would go. Thankfully she LOVED it! Sophia's Grandma, Auntie and Uncle also joined us. I actually think I watched Sophia more than I watched what was happening on the ice because watching her little face light up was just priceless. She was dancing along, trying to sing and doing that crazy bounce toddlers do when they are so excited they just don't know how to express it. On the drive home Sophia decided to have a tantrum ALL the way home. So imagine driving round the corner and on to your street to be faced with Santa, bright flashing lights and the song "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" blaring from a car following Santa and around ten children handing out free sweets. All whilst Sophia is in mid tantrum, you have sat crazily for around two hours singing Frozen songs and now Santa is cornering you. I'm not sure who was more confused... Sophia or myself. Once our brains registered what was actually going it was great fun!

Deck the halls!

I finally convinced Bruce to pop up into the loft and bring down our boxes of Christmas items. Last year it was our first Christmas in our new home and we had ended up with a mash up of bits and pieces from all of our family members. This year however I have been slightly more prepared. What started off as a deep clean of the sitting room turned into a full blown deep clean of the entire house, I got a tad carried away and even ended up sorting through our wardrobes, cupboards and all our little hiding places. Thankfully Bruce was with me to give a helping hand and keep me calm or I think I would still be sat in a pile of Sophia's old toys & clothes now if he hadn't been with me.

This year I got all of our tree decorations from The Range and Homebase, nothing expensive or overly fancy. I didn't want to spend an absolute fortune and end up having a mental breakdown when and if Sophia knocks something off of the tree. Our silver baubles and the fancier ones all came from The Range, even better the large jeweled silver one is an almost foam type material. I've always found that individual baubles can be quite delicate but these are completely Sophia proof! Yay! 

I cannot wait to see Sophia's face in the morning, I also hope Bruce comes to terms with the pink... I did ask him if he had a colour preference and his reply? "The tree is your thing, do what you want!" So I did and tonight he started questioning the pink. Sorry darling but you live with two females and you were out voted! Now all I need to do is convince Bruce that Sophia and I would really love lights up outside too. Wish me luck!

Christmas Candles

Recently I have had the urge to make my own candles, after joining some groups on Facebook and looking around online I decided to give it a try. My first candles were mulled wine scented and in small tins, everything came as part of a kit which was fantastic for a first attempt. They were a huge success with my family but personally I didn't love the scent so it was time for my second ever attempt. 

I bought a soya wax, wicks that were listed online as suitable to use with my wax & jars, the jars and I bought two scents which were cinnamon & apple and cranberry, orange & cinnamon. Now I won't do this as a tutorial because I am figuring this candle making hobby out & they aren't perfect. But I had to share with you how they did turn out because I am pretty proud that my second attempt went so well! 

If you fancy making candles then I really suggest looking on Facebook at different groups, I met people who have have candle making businesses and have done this for years through Facebook groups! Online many manufacturers have q&a pages and if you are stuck I've found when you contact their customer services departments they will keep you right when it comes to purchasing the correct materials. 

Welcome!

Hi everyone, I would like to welcome you to my new blog "Mummy Trials", Some of you may know me from my other blog liner,lippy,life and for those of you who don't I just wanted to introduce myself & my daughter Sophia. I won't go into a huge life story for my first post but if you do have any questions feel free to leave them as a comment and I can do a Q&A style post in the future.

My name is Sharon and I am 25, I live in Aberdeenshire with my partner Bruce & our three year old daughter Sophia. I worked in childcare until recently when finding childcare for Sophia became a struggle so now Sophia is graced with my presence all day every day, apart from the few hours she ditches me for her friends in nursery, I'm pretty sure she is sick of the sight of me now! 

Hopefully with this blog I can share things we get up to, I want to share the good & the bad because lets face it... parenting always easy, I know I had high hopes for always cooking home made meals, doing loads of arts & crafts, having family adventures but sometimes I like to hide in the toilet on my phone, a trip to Tesco is like a holiday and youtube can literally save a parents life with a toddler running around.

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