#Blogtober17 Day 6 Flowers

The prompt for day six is flowers.

To be honest I'm not really a person for flowers! I don't buy them, and to be honest when James was born my aunt and uncle sent us a massive bunch of flowers as they were on holiday at the time. We had to put them into a bucket as we realised we did not have a vase!

The only flowers  I have ever really liked were my wedding flowers. I had red roses as my main flowers. I even had my flowers preserved and framed. We still do not have them on the wall yet and we have been married over six years!

I'm really not that green fingered either, my dad bought me a plant a few years ago and I managed to kill it! 

James hates bees, so we are trying to eliminate the amount of flowers in our garden as well James literally freaks out when he sees a bee!

So yes flowers are definetly not my thing!

Photo from www.ivtography.com My dads website!

#Blogtober17 Day 5 Education

The prompt for Blogtober day 5 is education!

For me this means everything I have done! So where I grew up it was a three tier school system with kids starting school at four rising five, then moving to middle school at the end of the school year you turned nine. Then again moving to high school at the end of the school year of turning thirteen.

So after completing my GCSEs at high school I had the option of staying on at school for another two years and doing sixth form or I could leave school and go to the local college for two years. I chose to go down the college route. I did a BTEC National Diploma in Media Production.

I then chose to go onto Manchester Metropolitan University, but the course I started was not the course I had been told about at the open day, so I chose to leave the course after the first year.

I then worked for a year for the camera shop Jessops where I learned so much about photography and digital cameras and also how prints were developed. 

I then went onto Salford University and did an HND in Media Production. I absolutely loved my time on the HND. Sadly when I went back to the university to do the one year top up degree it was a horrible experience, which ended up with me appealing my results and eventually resitting some of my modules.

I eventually graduated in 2012, but I was pregnant with James at the time so deferred the ceremony till the July 2013. James was eleven months old when I walked onto the stage in the Lowry Theatre in Salford Quays to receive my degree. So I ended up with a BSc Hons Professional Broadcast Techniques 2:1 Degree.

Do I want my boys to go to university? Well I would love it if they did, but it will be there choice. If they dont want to then I wont force them. Its their happieness that means the most to me.

#Blogtober17 Day 4 Date

The day 4 Blogtober prompt is Date.

Me and Andy try to have a date night at least once a month. Normally it is a Friday night.

My parents will come down in the afternoon and pack the kids stuff into their car. Then they will load Freddie into his car seat then drive around to James school and collect him then drive to their house! They live 40 minutes drive from us, so its easiest if they go straight from school to try and avoid most of the rush hour traffic going north!

Our last date night was for Andy's birthday. His birthday had been on the Wednesday, but with it being a school day for James we decided to have a meal at home on the actual day and they have our couples meal out on the Friday night!

We started with Tea/Coffee and birthday cake at home with my parents and the kids. This meant I was also able to get James changed out of his school uniform and get his uniform into the washing machine!

Once the kids left we got ready and headed into Newcastle city centre for drinks and our meal! 

We went for a drink first at a little bar next to Greys monument which was lovely and it was somewhere we had never been to before as a couple, in fact I don't think either of us have ever been there before. 

Eldon Square opened a new restaurant section almost a year ago i think it was, and we are trying a new place every time we go out for a meal! This time we had chosen to book Giraffe World Kitchen!

After our meal we then headed off to start our drinking! We first went to Wetherspoons and well we actually ended up in Flares! Lets just say mixing drinks is never a good idea and this mummy had a very sore head all day on the Saturday! 

We need to start planning our next date night but it will probably not be until the end of October at the earliest as Andy has been doing overtime on Saturday mornings at work.

I'm really looking forward to our next night out, but this mummy will not be mixing her drinks
again!

#Blogtober17 Day Three - Cars

So the prompt for today is cars!

Now I actually don't have a car as I cannot actually drive! Yep that's right I'm 32 and cannot drive! But I do plan to change that and learn to drive in the next year! I think if I learn to drive then it will be easier for me to take the kids to my parents to visit! It would mean my mum and dad would not have to come down and pick me and the kids up! We would also be able to drive down to Surrey to see Andy's family rather than having to rely on trains, which are expensive and have to be booked at least three months in advance or the coach, which is cheaper but it does take at least six hours just to get into central London, then it is two trains! 

But if you get me onto the topic of cars then Formula 1 cars have to be my favourite! I love nothing more than sitting down to watch the Grand Prix. My favourite team is Ferrari, obviously because they are red lol. I can remember watching the F1 with my late nannie who used to love watching just to see how many cars would crash on the first lap!

I do love Aston Martin cars as my lovely cousin works for them. He even brought a DBS to our wedding.

As a boy mummy we do have lots of toy cars in our house! James absolutely adores hot wheels and other match box sized cars! But he is always leaving them all over the house, so I am forever rescuing them from the jaws of Freddie who thinks they make the perfect teether!

If I had to own a car through I have no idea what I would have, but as long as it had four doors I would be happy though! 

#Blogtober DayTwo - Babies

So the prompt is babies!

These are my two babies! 

James is my oldest who is 5 and boy does he hate being called a baby! 

He's just started his second year of primary school and he totally loves it! James has blonde hair and bright blue eyes and he knows exactly how to use his eyes to twist everyone round his little finger! 

He can be a little devil at times! Very demanding and boy if he does get his own way you will certainly know about it! He is a very loving and sweet boy though! He loves his daddy more than anyone else and yes that includes his mummy!

Now Freddie really is my baby. He's almost two and such a mamas boy! 

He looks very much like his brother with the blue eyes and blonde hair! 

He loves nothing more than snuggling up next to mama and either playing with Siri or listening to a story! His current favourite is that's not my hedgehog. 

He seems to have been a baby much longer than James was! I'm guessing this is due to him walking later and starting to talk more later! He is very cheeky and fast! If you leave a door open he is off! He loves having snuggles with mummy in his carrier.

So that is all about my two gorgeous babies!

#Ecover Laundry Challenge

Doing the laundry has to be my least favourite household task. But I am definitely determined to get us into a better routine! 

So our washer has been covered in Ben and Holly stickers by James!

Normally the laundry gets washed, then tumble dryed, then it's split into three separate crates, one for James, one for Freddie and one for myself and Andy.  Then the crates normally sit on top of each other in the middle of the kitchen till either Andy or myself take it upstairs. 

Now that James is back at school and in year one I need to get us into a much better wash routine. So now when James gets home from school, his jumper and trousers are hung on the bottom of his bed and his white polo top goes into a crate at the top of the stairs! Anything that needs washing that is white gets thrown into this crate and that gets washed on a Friday night.

We used the Ecover laundry detergent liquid to do our white washing load and then our subsequent loads and oh it is amazing! My washing is coming out the machine smelling lovely! My whites are coming out the machine actually white! Even things that had been washed a few times came out looking better than they ever have before! 

Since the first wash we did with Ecover we have actually kept using it as the washing has been coming out smelling lovely! James school uniform has been coming out so soft and well Ecover definitely get the stains out! James is the only child I know who can go to school on a Monday and need his sweatshirt washed when he gets home at three fifteen! 

I will certainly be looking for Ecover when I am next in the supermarket as this is a product I would love to keep using!

This post is an entry for BritMums #EcoverLaundry Challenge, sponsored by Ecover.  

#Blogtober17 Day One - All about You!

So here it is, 1st October 2017 and the first day of Blogtober 2017!

Today's prompt is All about you, so here goes!

My name is Victoria, but everyone calls me Vicki or Vic.My dad is the only one who really calls me Victoria!

I was born in April 1985 so that makes me 32! And yes I think I actually look my age now, especially since having the boys!

I've been married to Andy for six years and we have been together nine years!

We live in a suburb of Newcastle upon Tyne and bought our current house two years ago!

We have two boys, James who is five and Freddie who is almost two. As it is babies tomorrow I will be talking more about my two monkeys then!

In our nine years together, me and Andy have lived in eight homes together, Three down in Surrey and the rest up here in the North East! Twice living with my parents!

We have no pets although James is desperate for a dog, but it has to be a big dog he says!