All the Blogtober Posts

Its the first of November today and we have officially completed Blogtober 2019!
I thought it would be a good idea to have a page with links to all the posts!
Enjoy!

Day One
Day Two
Day Three
Day Four
Day Five
Day Six
Day Seven
Day Eight
Day Nine
Day Ten
Day Eleven
Day Twelve
Day Thirteen
Day Fourteen
Day Fifteen
Day Sixteen
Day Seventeen
Day Eighteen
Day Nineteen
Day Twenty
Day Twenty One
Day Twenty Two
Day Twenty Three
Day Twenty Four 
Day Twenty Five
Day Twenty Six
Day Twenty Seven
Day Twenty Eight
Day Twenty Nine
Day Thirty
Day Thirty One

Blogtober Day Thirty One!

Its Day Thirty One! We have reached the last day of October and the final post of Blogtober 2019! 

I am so thrilled to have completed the challenge this year So our final Blogtober Post I am going to write about what the boys are wearing for Halloween.

After recent circumstances, James school decided not to have the Halloween party for Years One to Six and instead they just had a school disco. But there was a Halloween party at Beavers for James. 

James left getting his costume up to mummy and all I got told was it had to have a mask. So this year James is going as a glow in the dark skeleton. Mummy has also bought him some glow in the dark slap bands and some Halloween glow stick necklaces.

For Freddie, Nursery had a Halloween dress up day. Trying to find a costume for Freddie that was in two separate parts so he could still go to the toilet was so hard. So Freddie went to Nursery dressed as a spider! He looked so adorable.

We have brought both costumes to nana and gaga's house so the boys could wear them to show nana and gaga.

Blogtober Day Thirty

So today I am going to write about Pintrest!I have been on Pintrest for a few years now and I love it! 

When we were going on holiday last year, I was addicted to Pintrest for finding ways to entertain the kids in the airport, what to pack for them etc

I also searched the resort we were staying in to get lots of idea's about things we could do while we were there. 

I also used it when we were going to Alton Towers with the kids a few years ago. Again this was to get idea's on how to keep the kids entertained on the coach for six hours and what we would need to pack for them in the suitcase. 

Another trip I used it to get idea's for was for when we were traveling on the trains to and from Surrey to visit Andy's family. 

Travelling with the kids is the main time we use it to get idea's, especially if it is a long trip like the coach to Alton Towers or the train to London.

So for me I use Pintrest to get ideas for travelling.

I have now also set up a board called Scouting. Since I am becoming an assistant leader with James Beaver group I have been looking on Pintrest to get some ideas on things we can do with the kids to go towards their badges.

What do you use Pintrest for?

Blogtober Day Twenty Nine

Its day twenty nine! We are almost at the end of Blogtober 2019! 
Today the prompt I am using is "Instagram Round up!"

Over the last couple of years, Instagram has become one of my favourite social media platforms. Its become my favourite as I have it attached to both my  Blog Facebook page and my Twitter account so anything I post on Instagram will go directly to them both to save me going onto each platform individually and reposting!

I also use Instagram to keep up with what my favourite musicians, bloggers and sports stars are up to! I have seen loads of photos of one of my favourite musicians who has been on tour in Asia and is currently in Australia. I have also kept up with Manchester United via Instagram and of course my blogging friends!

First thing in the morning I check Instagram to see what has been happening on the tour in Australia and see what I also check to see what has been posted to Instagram stories the evening before. I then try and post to Instagram stories either via photos and or text. I have really taken a liking to posting on Instagram stories as I don't have a camera that I can do proper vlogging on. 

So what are my favourite Instagram pages?

First off I love Katie Ellison. Katie is a mum of 3 based in the UK. Her feed is gorgeous, a mix of home, lifestyle and her three gorgeous kids, 

Another page I love is Mrs Meldrum. Rebecca is another UK mum, based in North East Scotland. She has three gorgeous little girls, Her oldest is a few months older than James

Then we have the Manchester United official Instagram page. This page posts a lot of photos from match day and also behind the scenes. 

Finally we have Ada & Alfred. This is the page for my friend Alex's shop. I have bought a few bits from her in the past and currently I am using my Fierce and Female backpack most days. When we go out as a family I can fit our medical kit and a spare set of clothes for Freddie in and still its only half full!

Tell me below who or what your favourite Instagram pages are!

Living Arrows 2019 43/52 - Blogtober Day Twenty Eight

Welcome to Living Arrows post 2019! If you haven't heard of the linky before, This was set up by Donna at What the Redhead Said and the name comes from the poem by Kahlil Gibran "You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth" Each week I post one photo of James and one photo of Freddie and share what they have been up to that week!

Today's post is also my Day Twenty Eight post for Blogtober 2019!

This week is Half Term for the boys so we have come to visit nana and gaga!

James last week had a disco at school on Monday night. It was a wear it blue night in memory of the little girl who died as blue was her favourite colour. James also had his fancy dress/Halloween party at Beavers! It was also his two leaders last night before our two new leaders and mummy as assistant take over after half term!

Freddie last week had a lovely time at nursery. He had his nursery rhyme challenge where all the kids sang nursery rhymes for the parents. Freddie was a bit shy and grumpy and cried a little bit. He also had his fancy dress Halloween theme day where he went dressed as a spider!

Blogtober Day Twenty Six

Day Twenty Six, we are almost at the end of Blogtober - We have five days to go!

Today I am going to talk about the boys favourite toys.

First of all we have CB.
James has had CB or to give him his full name Cranberry Bear since he was around fifteen months old. We got him one day when we were in Newcastle at Card Factory and James literally fell in love with him and he took him everywhere! CB went to nursery every day with James. He has been so well loved and James hates to be apart from him. He has even been on the two Beaver camps that James has already been on and he's recently been to Kielder on the school residential.

Then we have Moo.
Freddie has lots of different teddies, but he never really took to any of them till he got Moo. He won Moo on a hook a duck at our local community fair in August 2018 and he literally fell in love with him! He takes Moo with him most days with him. Quite often he will leave Moo at home but virtually every day he does take Moo with him!

Both boys take their CB and Moo to bed with them every night, so they are both very well loved. Moo has had a few drys in the tumble dryer from when hes got wet in the rain or he has needed a sponge bath after hes had food dropped on him!

What are your kids like with their Teddies?

Blogtober Day Twenty Five

Today the prompt is "Counting Down"

James has been counting down to the school half term holiday which they actually broke up from school for yesterday.

It has been such a long and stressful half term, not just for James with having his teeth out, but for the school community in general after the tragic death of a pupil in our school.

Both the boys are so tired and are ready to have a break, although I expect that Freddie will not take to kindly to being off school for a week. He has really settled into the nursery but he is so tired when he gets home and he refuses to have a nap meaning he is asking to go to bed at half past five, then he is normally wide away at half past five in the morning. 

We are now also on the one month count down to Freddie turning four! It is exactly one calendar month today till our little dude is four years old! James is very excited for his brother turning four, we have started buying his birthday presents and James has chosen to get him a toy skip lorry!

I expect once we have had Freddie's birthday, both the boys will be counting down to Christmas!

What is everyone else counting down too?

Blogtober Day Twenty Four

Today the Blogtober prompt is "Christmas"

I have to admit I have started sorting bits out for the boys for Christmas. The main problem we have for Christmas is Freddie having his birthday literally a month before Christmas day on 25th November.

As the boys are getting older we are starting to shop for them in the same age brackets for toys. Everything that James see's that he wants, Freddie then starts shouting that he wants it as well! The latest from James is playmobile based on Dreamworks Dragon. He loves that show so much, but Freddie rarely watches it yet he still wants some of the toys. The ones that James is pointing out that he wants are over £30!

Freddie is totally crazy about Hey Duggee, so I think a lot of the things he gets for Christmas is going to be related to that. He also loves the switch and go Dino that James got for his birthday, so if he doesn't get one of them for his birthday he will probably get one for Christmas. 

This year James will be taking part in the Key Stage Two Christmas performance at school so I will have two different performances to go to as Freddie will be part of the Foundation unit and Key Stage One. Freddie will also hopefully get to go see Santa at the school Christmas fair, which is for nursery to year two kids. Last year Freddie went to see Santa with playgroup and he cried the whole time we were there! We also went to a local garden centre to see Santa and he was ok, he didn't cry, but he didn't go into the grotto, He stood at the door with daddy and looked inside lol!

This year we have my parents coming to us for Christmas lunch which I am really excited about. They came to us for lunch a couple of years ago and it was so much fun! The boys had a great time and I really enjoyed cooking a full Christmas meal!

So what has everyone else got planned for Christmas? Let us know in the comments below!!

Blogtober Day Twenty Three

Today the prompt I am using is "Weather"

So as most people know I live in the North East of England and the weather here is at the moment so cold! I know its only October but the temperatures have really dropped drastically and its now only getting to about 13 degrees during the day!

The boys are already wearing hats, scarfs and gloves to school some days. Our winters have definitely got colder over the last few years. Especially February and March, thats the months that the North East has had its snow! 

When James was in Year One the snow was so bad around us that the head teacher closed the school for two days as it was unsafe not only for the staff to drive to the school, but it was unsafe for the pupils and their families to walk to the school. We only live five minutes walk from the school front gates and it was so bad to walk. Freddie was only two so was still using a pushchair to get to and from his playgroup and we literally couldn't push it. I had to try and carry Freddie to playgroup on the Wednesday morning, then on the lunch time we got a message that the school was letting the kids go from 2pm so I had to go up and get James. Then I had to go round to the playgroup to pick up Freddie. 

I am really hoping we do not get as bad a winter this year as we had then, as having two boys off school will be a nightmare as they both love school and really miss it when they are not there!

So please keep your fingers crossed that winter 19/20 is not too bad for us!

Blogtober Day Twenty Two

Day Twenty Two! We are nine days from the end of the month, which means nine days from completing Blogtober 2019!

Today the prompt I am using is "Day Tripping"

The last time we actually went on any sort of day trip was last year when we were in Majorca and we spent the day in Palma Aquarium.

It was absolutely amazing. We must have spent at least 45 minutes sitting in front of the eight meter deep shark tank! James was totally memorised by the sharks, some which were actually bigger than him! In fact some of the fish that were in the tanks were bigger than Freddie!

I really hope we can go back to Majorca in the next couple of years and hopefully go back to the aquarium. We missed out on doing the glass bottomed boat on the shark tank as Freddie was too young. 

They have something new there now called Aquadome, which is a 3D show about the humpbacked whale!

These are two of my favourite images from our Day Trip to Palma Aquarium!

Freddie staring into the tank

The Jelly Fish Tank

Living Arrows 2019 42/52 - Blogtober Day Twenty One

Welcome to Living Arrows post 2019! If you haven't heard of the linky before, This was set up by Donna at What the Redhead Said and the name comes from the poem by Kahlil Gibran "You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth" Each week I post one photo of James and one photo of Freddie and share what they have been up to that week!

Today's post is also the day twenty one post for Blogtober 2019.

This week James has has his school residential trip to Hawkhirst at Kielder. He had an absolutely brilliant time!! When it came to leaving I had to go in via Key Stage Two door with him and Freddie.Then take him into the hall and hand over his spending money and medications to his teachers. Then I had to nip via other hall and the office to drop Freddie into the foundation unit then I had to go back into the hall to wait with James for his bus. I ended up helping James and half his friends attach the labels to their bags that the school had for them. I ended up carrying James and his pals bags for them to the bus lol!

Freddie has had another brilliant week at nursery. He is so settled now and comes out every day telling me what he has done and who he has played with. His favourite activities are playing in the water try and painting. He tells me that Freddie played painting or Freddie played in water. 

The boys also had their school photographs taken. The first one of them both in the same uniform is adorable! If you have me on Instagram you will have seen me post them! 

Blogtober Day Twenty

Well we have reached Day Twenty! We have twelve days to go to complete Blogtober and I am now so hopeful I can actually do it!

Today I am the prompt I am going to write about is "Family is..."

To me my family is very important. I am very close to both my parents and I will speak to them on the phone a couple of times a day! They live around 40 minutes drive from us and we see them normally once or twice a week. They will often come down and collect James from school so they can spend some time with him after school. They will also sometimes go and pick up Freddie from nursery. 

My little family of Andy, James and Freddie is my whole world. We spend most weekends just us, normally chilling at home after busy weeks in school/nursery and work.

So yes family is my everything!

Blogtober Day Nineteen

Today I am going to show a Throw Back Image. 

This photograph of the boys was taken just over a year ago when we were on holiday in Majorca. This was taken on the first night we were at Club Mac. We had gone for a wander around the complex and we had found the children's bar over in the Jupiter building. James had asked for ice cream and since Freddie is allergic to dairy he got a slush.

Both boys look so young and it was only just over a year ago this photograph was taken! Although to be fair Freddie was not even three when it was taken and James had just turned six. Now they are seven and almost four!

Freddie seems to have grown up so much since he started his fifteen preschool hours back in January. His speech has definitely exploded!

Blogtober Day Eighteen

Today I am going to tell you all about my favourite apps on my phone!

So as I mentioned in a previous post. I have an android phone, which is a Sony Xperia L3.

The apps I tend to use the most are: Facebook, Instagram, Amazon Kindle, Spotify and Uber Social.

My favourite app definitely has to be the Amazon Kindle app. I have a subscription to Amazon Unlimited so I can read as many books as I would like each month. I think reading when I go to bed definitely helps me to sleep better and my brain is much calmer than when I would be messing around on social media before going to bed.

I have found that I sleep longer if I have been reading than I do if I have been on social media. Having the Kindle App means I will actually sit down and read. I found if I had to actually pick up a book I wouldn't read it as I would be too scared that the kids would get a hold of it and wreck it!

So over all my favourite app is 100% the Amazon Kindle App!

Blogtober Day Seventeen

And its day 17 of Blogtober and the prompt I am using is "Quotes" 
So I am going to share a few of my favourite quotes my one of my favourite photographers Ansel Adams.

Blogtober Day Sixteen

Welcome to day 16 of Blogtober! We are around half way through a post everyday in October! Today the prompt I am using is "Five Facts!" So I am going to give you five random facts about me!

Fact One!
I have met both Eric Cantona and Peter Schmeichel! - When I was around 11, The Manchester United squad were staying at a hotel near where my parents live before they played Newcastle. So my dad took me up to the hotel early on the Sunday Morning to see if we could see any of the players. As we were driving up the hotel driveway, these two figures stepped out into the road. My dad had to drive around them. When they turned around it was Cantona and Schmeichel. I have photographs with them and I had the biggest smile on my face for weeks to come as they are both Legends!

Fact Two!
When I was at university I did work experience with MUTV. It was between September 2007 and February 2008 and it was literally the best experience of my life! I was working on the documentary they made to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Munich 1958 air disaster where eight players sadly lost their lives. I got my name in the credits which I was so proud of!

Fact Three!
I worked in a holiday park bar the summer I turned 18. 

Fact Four!
I absolutely love boy bands especially from the 90s/00s. My favourites are Westlife and D-Side!!

and Finally Fact Five!
Me and Andy went on our honeymoon to Orlando. 

Theses are all pretty random but yep five facts about me!

Living Arrows 2019 41/52 Blogtober Day 14

Welcome to Living Arrows post 2019! If you haven't heard of the linky before, This was set up by Donna at What the Redhead Said and the name comes from the poem by Kahlil Gibran "You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth" Each week I post one photo of James and one photo of Freddie and share what they have been up to that week! 

Its week 41 already and today's post is also part of Blogtober 2019 - a blog post for every day in October!

This week James had to have some teeth out at the Dental hospital, so poor kid has not had a very nice end to the week. He is also in a phase where he does not want nice photographs taken of him either!

Freddie has had a great week at school! He has settled into the school nursery so well and is making lots of new little friends. I think that it helps having his best pal from playgroup there with him who's big sister is actually one of James classmates. The pair of them are so cute together. They are quiet often found chasing James around before school roaring like dinosaurs at him! 

Blogtober Day Thirteen

The prompt I am using today is Movies!

The last movie that I actually saw in the cinema was Peter Rabbit! I haven't been to the cinema to see a proper adults non kids movie since I saw The Kings Speech years ago. I always see things advertised on the side of buses or on the TV and think oh I would love to see that but then life and kids take hold and by the time we have a child free night the film is out of the cinema and there is nothing else left to go and see!

Christmas however I love all the movies that come on TV. My favourite Christmas film is Santa Claus the movie. I have great memories of it being on TV every Christmas Eve and I would be curled up on an arm chair or the sofa at my Nannies house watching it. 

Now having two boys I love passing on the traditions of watching Christmas movies together! Last year James was all about The Gruffalo and The Stickman. I cannot wait to see what movies are going to be shown on BBC and ITV this year!!

James has really got into Harry Potter this last year so I am hoping we can watch some of the films over the school Christmas holidays! 

Anyone have any good movie suggestions for a seven year old and almost 4 year old? Comment your favourites below!

Blogtober Day Twelve!

Day twelve has arrived and I am still posting! I am still here and actually doing ok on this whole posting every day!

Today I am going to talk about my two boys and how they got their names!

First we have James. His full name is James Ian Michael and he was born on 26th August 2012 at 1634 in Wansbeck General Hospital in Ashington, Northumberland.

His first name of James comes from my granddad - my mums dad, who died long before I was born. If I had been born a boy then James was the name my parents would have used, so I always said if I had a little boy I would call him James. 

His first middle name Ian comes from my dad. I always said James Ian went well together and so we used it as his first middle name. 

His last middle name comes from Andy's dad Micheal. We loved the choice and had it settled long before we even thought of kids. And I love the fact his initials spell out JIM as my granddad was known to everyone as Jimmy!

Then we have Freddie! or to give him his full name, Freddie Andrew Tinline! He was born on 25th November 2015 at 1219pm at The RVI in Newcastle upon Tyne.

His first name of Freddie comes from Andy's granddad on his mums side who was called Frederick. We felt this was a bit of a long name for a little boy so we went with the shorter version of Freddie. 

His first middle name of Andrew comes from daddy of course. We loved how the two names went with each other.

We knew that with James having two middle names we wanted Freddie to have the same and that was when we decided to use Tinline. That was my granddads middle name and I believe it was his mums maiden name. It felt right to use the name as it then meant both the boys had a name linking them to my mums dad. The poor boy has ended up with the initials of FAT which is quite funny and it really was him when he was a baby as he was quite chunky!

So this is how the boys were named. Has anyone got any interesting reasons behind their kids names? Leave a comment if you have below!

Blogtober Day Eleven

Today's prompt is "Lets Go Outside"

Both my boys love being outside! They love puddles, They love mud, They love water! They just love being in the the outdoors! Freddie especially will jump in every puddle he finds on the way to school whether he is wearing his wellies or not! He jumped wearing his trainers last week and got a shock when he got home and realised he had soggy socks and soggy shoes!

So for the rest of this post its going to be a collection of photographs of the boys enjoying themselves outside over the summer holidays whether it was in Nana and Gaga's garden, or at the beach or just out walking!