Holiday Shopping Online!

This year is our first family holiday, even though we are not away till October we are doing the bulk of our shopping now! And having a two year old and a five year old means the majority of my shopping is done online! 

My go to shop for toiletries, especially when I know I am going to be traveling, has to be Boots especially as they have great offers! I'm already looking online and writing lists of what we will need. They are very reasonably priced with some items being available for under £2!

What I didn't realise was all the fantastic deals for Boots you could get on Groupon! I'm definitely going to be using Groupon to do our holiday shopping as I absolutely hate going into the shops especially if I have the boys with me! 

I don't know if its just my boys but they are both an absolute nightmare when we go shopping! They whinge and whine the whole time and normally we end up going home without buying anything that we actually need to get! It's got to the stage now where I plan to do any shopping trips when they are in school and playgroup!

It's not just toiletries I will be going to Boots for for our holiday. I will be buying swim nappies, suntan lotion, plus all our first aid kit necessities! Then you have the Mini Club clothing! I will definitely be wanting to pick up some bits for the two boys such as swim jackets and swim hats! Both my boys have very blonde hair so I will be wanting to keep their heads covered at all times especially when they are in the pool!

So Boots has definitely got my vote for holiday shopping online! Anything that keeps me happy and helps me to avoid taking my two monkeys out is definitely a winner!

**This is a sponsored post with Groupon**

Christmas Shopping with Uncommon Goods

As a busy mummy of two boys, the easiest way for me to do my Christmas shopping is online! I hate taking both boys to the shops! Especially if I am shopping for Andy as James has a habit or telling him what we have bought! Its not too bad just taking Freddie shopping as he tends to just sit in the pram and snack, where as James will be moaning and saying hes bored every second! 

When gift website Uncommon Goods got in touch and asked me if I could put together a Christmas gift guide from their website I was thrilled! I decided to look for gifts for Andy, James and my dad! 

Uncommon Goods was formed in 1999 with its headquarters being in Brooklyn, New York. They make it their mission to support and provide a platform for artists and designers; in fact, half of what they sell is made by hand. They have also been rewarded for customer service every year since 2007!

The unique gifts for men section, on uncommon goods is fantastic! The first thing to jump out at me was this Stone Drinks Dispenser! I knew straight away this would be something that both my dad and Andy would love as they both love their whiskey and I'm sure they would both enjoy something like this! Plus I think it would look awesome on display in a lounge!

The next gift I found was this fantastic Home Brew Journal. My dad is into making his own Beer and Gin so something like this would be brilliant for him as he could keep a record of what happens when in the beer making process.

When it came to James this amazing construction plate and construction cutlery jumped out at me! James is completely daft about construction vehicles so I think if he got to eat his dinner using a digger he would absolutely be in his element!! 

Plus when James gets too old to use it, it could then be passed onto Freddie who is starting to get into construction vehicles thanks to his big brother!

I also found this amazing Ticket Stub Diary. Even though I was looking for dad, Andy and James something like this would have been brilliant for me when I was growing up as I used to go to a lot of concerts and saved all my tickets! I would have loved to have had something like this to keep all the memories alive!

Another thing I found for Andy or my dad was this awesome Beer Chilling Coaster Set. All that is needed to do is put the stones and caddy into the fridge or freezer to set them and then take a coaster out and put your beer bottle into it! This sound brilliant as they do not stick to the bottom of the bottles and they do not scratch the table!

I have had a brilliant time looking though the Uncommon Goods website and I can see myself going to this site in the future when looking for birthday and Christmas presents for family and friends!

**This is a collaborative post and I have been compensated for my time taken to write it*

Chill out day

This week is going to be pretty manic as we have the funeral on Tuesday morning then the photographer is at toddlers on Thursday, so fingers crossed we can get a nice picture or James lol! 

Yesterday (Friday) we went out with my parents. We went down to the quayside in Newcastle to see how James would react to sand on the beach they have built and as I predicted he screamed blue murder when he was put on the sand. He was fine on the decking and quite enjoyed running on it but once he ran onto the sand and he realised he was on it he basically freaked out! 

We then decided to go to the red house for lunch. One of my website clients - the amble butcher supplies all the pies so of course we all had a different pie and as normal they were brilliant! 

After that we went into town as we all needed to get a few bits. I got a models own hyper gel nail varnish to try so will be reviewing that later in the week.

We still need to do our weeks shopping but James has woken from his nap in a bad mood so at the moment shopping is a no go! Shopping with a toddler in tantrum mode is not good or easy! 

Back to routine

This week has been trying to get James back into some sort of a normal routine.

For the last week since we lost nannie he's not really been napping much. He's been very clingy to his nana and mummy

So today being Thursday we are back at our toddler group. Its a relief to see James running around with his little friends and playing with the toys rather than being glued to my side all the time.

For me its also good being back as its a bit of normality back in our lives before we have the funeral to face on Tuesday morning. 

James has been into his jigsaws and puzzles.

He also loves playing with his train set at his nanas. He got it for Christmas.

After toddlers we went to the metro centre with my parents to try and get me a pair of shoes to wear on Tuesday. We were probably in every shoe shop and department store and had zero luck. We then went across to asda and again no luck but James did get a new shirt. I finally found a pair at tesco! 

Friday shopping

Well ita Friday and our day startes with our normal trek to the supermarkdaddy lolo the weeks shopping.

As I said in an earlier blog we try and stick to a list and only buy what we need.

Apart from three things that were actually forgotten from the list we did pretty well and only spent just over £30.

Downside was a major tantrum from James in the middle of the shop. Poor lite man was tired and he is also teething.

The photo below was taken as we waited for the metro to the shop when he was in a semi good mood.

Once we were home James crashed for two hours and erm so did mummy and daddy.