Blogmas Day 6 - The Elf is Back

This is actually something that happened last week but I wanted to share. Our Elf on the Shelf Hollybell usually arrives around the same time as our Christmas tree and sure enough the morning after the tree went up there was Hollybell perched on our kitchen island. 

There she was sitting amongst my advent candle wreath and using a packet of M&M's had spelt out "I'm back" the girls were so delighted to see she had come back, as they remembered all the fun they had last year trying to find her each morning, last year there used to be tears if the other had found her first but this year so far it's all going very well (the difference a year makes)! 

For her return Hollybell also brought with her breakfast from the North Pole. 

Yummy custard filled donuts covered in powdered sugar. This was such a treat for the girls and made a change from the usual cereal.

Hollybell will be with us now until Christmas Eve and has already hid in a few funny places but we love looking for her and seeing what she has gotten up to while we sleep (once she is back from her nightly trip to santa) .

Karen

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Blogmas Day 5 - Saturday Night Hot Chocolate

We let the girls stay up a bit later on a Saturday to watch "Strictly Come Dancing", they both love it. It is a true family Saturday (and Sunday) night show and we all really enjoy watching it together.

For the last couple of weeks I make my extremely delicious Christmas Hot Chocolate! It is so yum and I urge you to try it, you won't regret it!

To make it you will need: (serves 2)

1 dsp of Nutella

2 cups of milk

Squeezey Cream

Mini marshmallows (not pictured)

Caramel sauce

Sprinkles, I used these little snowflakes but you can use anyones you like or maybe grated chocolate 

Put your Nutella and milk into a saucepan and whisk gently over a low heat until the Nutella has melted into the milk.

Once heated to desired temperature, pour into Christmas Cups (optional). Top with whipped cream, marshmallows, caramel sauce and sprinkles! 

Serve with your favourite biscuits, tonight we had Cadburys Festive Friends and ENJOY! 

Karen

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Blogmas Day 4 - Christmas Planning

I just love my Erin Condren life planner, I use it for everything, mine and my family's plans, to do lists, budgeting and I really enjoy the decorating aspect also, my guilty pleasure.

I do feel it can be an expensive hobby though. I normally order my weekly stickers kits from etsy and I have done so for December from my go to shop GlitzandGlamPlanning but they haven't arrived yet sad face so I decided today to something new which was to buy a pdf printable from etsy. 

I ordered these fab instant downloads from MissSabineElise. Unfortunately I didn't think it would be difficult to get sticker paper and after trying numerous shops and loosing hope I finally found a packet in Mr Price, they are not perfect as they are 2 labels per sheet but the results turned out really well. 

The next bit was the cutting, I was doing it with a scissors and I wasn't thrilled with my straight lines but once I stuck them down they looked really well.

This is my week planned before the pen and I'm very happy with how it turned out! 

If you would like to order a 2016 Erin Condren  you can get $10 off the cost with this referral code: https://www.erincondren.com/referral/invite/karenodonovan0822

If you would like more planner inspiration check out my planning IG luzamaiplans

Karen

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Blogmas Day 3 - Visiting Santa

Ok so it's only day 3 and I have already failed! Day 3's post was planned but I actually fell asleep on the couch last night before I got to write it!

I'm going to go ahead and post it anyway and still post today's one tonight....awakeness permitting!!!

So one of the BIG things to do at Christmas is to visit Santa and that's what we did yesterday, this year we decided to go to fotawish! We hadn't been before (it was fota Imagine last year and Believe the year before) and it was something I definitely wanted to go and experience.

Unfortunately we had booked to go on the day that Cork decided to have the WORST traffic situation it has ever had. We were travelling from the west to the FOTA island resort and a journey that would normally take 30 mins took almost 2 hours!!!! We were one hour late for our reservation which I was so stressed about but I have to say the staff were so nice and understanding and it didn't take away from the experience at all! 

Once we were there it all went so well, the kids just loved it, I would definitely recommend going at night as the woods are lit up beautifully (I felt like I was back at Disneyland). 

We went on a train ride, met Santa Clause and Mrs Clause (Miss 5 was so excited to meet her as she is playing her in her school play), and had some hot chocolate. 

Santa was so nice and I love the family photo we got taken with him in his log cabin! 

I'm not sure if it is still possible to book as we booked ours back in September but if you can I'd highly recommend it, such a lovely family Christmas experience

Karen

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Blogmas Day 2 - Decking the Halls

I just love decorating our house for Christmas and it takes me about a week as I do it room by room, we did the main tree and living room over the weekend and I did the hallway today!

We have an artificial tree (less mess) and we got a new slimline one last year as our old one was huge and took up half the room, add to that the Christmas Eve toy delivery and you have a tight squeeze....so I am much happier with our new slimline tree.

Anyone else with a toddler have this problem??? so sweet of him to let me decorate the tree EVERY night, although I'm sure the novelty will wear off! Ha ha!

I love this lit garland from Penneys which at this stage is very old but I still love it! It's the one thing I miss every year when I put away the decorations (because as much as I love to Christmas up the house I enjoy getting the house back to normal in January)

As soon as I saw this little guy in Carraigdonn last week I knew I had the perfect spot for him, I know he's not wearing the traditional red but I actually love the brown (and it goes better with my living room decor) 

Karen

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Blogmas Day 1 - Hello December

Yay December is here! The build up and the preparation for Christmas can sometimes be the best part of the holiday season. To add to the happiness I'm on a week off work and so I get to be a full time Mom for the week, I know being a SAHM isn't for everyone but that's definitely when I feel the happiest, I honestly feel every moment away from my kids is a moment wasted, I just love being with them, doing the school run, and making our home, cozy and tidy for when they get home.

So the first of December meant the arrival of the advent calendars, there was so much excitement this morning when they got to open the first door, well baby boy didn't really know what was going on but didn't care when he saw the chocolate sweet, then I had to explain it had to go back on the shelf until tomorrow, he was not impressed ha ha!

Miss 7 chose "Inside Out", for Miss 5 it was the Disney Princesses and for baby boy it had to be Peppa Pig (only slightly obsessed) - and there's Hollybell our Elf on the Shelf sitting amongst the calendars.

I also took a trip to Zara today and picked up another bits for the kids (of course, they are better dressed than me) my Black Friday haul also arrived today....I will probably do a haul post so stay posted!

See you tomorrow

Karen

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Shopkins Party

Miss 4 recently became Miss 5 and to celebrate we had a Shopkins Party. If you have a child between the ages of 4 and 8, chances are you have heard of these cute little supermarket miniatures. They are definitely the latest craze in our house at the moment. Her favourite character is Season 3's "Patty Cake" and so we decided this would be her cake.
Now I suppose this is one I could have attempted myself, seeing as I did have the giant cupcake tin from Miss 7's party in February you can see it  Here but I decided to leave the professionals take care of it and I was so delighted with the results and I know I would NOT have gotten the same look.

How cute is this cake???? and Miss 5 loved it!

Shopkins Party decorations are hard to come by so we just went with a yellow and pink polka dot theme and we made our own Shopkins garland using the shopping baskets and shopping bags and some pink and yellow netting.

This was pretty easy, I just looped the netting around some yellow ribbon and alternated with shopping bags and baskets. Simple but effective!

Spot the Shopkins: You can barely see them in this picture but I lined up her collection on top of the mirror.

A lot of the food was also pink and yellow and I scattered some more of the shopping bags and baskets around the table so it all came together very well and Miss 5 had a fantastic day (which is the most important thing!)

Side note: How is my baby girl 5 already?????  Waaaaaaaaaa

Karen

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Packing for France.....Miss 4

We will be soon going on our summer holidays....while I feel the summer has flown by and I can't believe the girls are back to school in two weeks it definitely has been a long wait to go on our holidays. We normally go earlier in the summer and I don't think I could wait this long again.

So with holidays comes endless packing. Packing for a family of five is a challenge and they key is to be ORGANISED!

I make lists and lists, but what helps is I keep my list from the year before and work from that, making a new list but using the old one as reference.

We are only going for a week this year and two of those days will be on the Ferry, so I have to pack an overnight bag for the Ferry, a next day bag with swim clothes etc. and then the regular suitcases for the week.

I have decided on 8 full outfits per child, plus pool/beach wear & nightwear.

Here are Miss 4's outfits.
(in no particular order)

1. Black and White leggings from H&M buy similar here
    White top with lace detail from Penney's (€4)
    Black flower hairband from H&M
    White knit jumper from ZARA (on sale)

2. Red shorts from Penney's (€5)
    Navy and White Stripe Minnie Mouse t-shirt from ZARA (on sale)
    Minnie Mouse glasses from Aldi (€2.99)
    White Knit Jumper (as before)

3. Pink Shorts from Dunnes (a gift)
    "I'd rather be a mermaid" top from Tesco buy here
    Aqua cardigan from M&S (used to be Miss 7's)

4. Mint shorts from ZARA (on sale)
    Glitter Watermelon top from ZARA (on sale)
    Peach Starfish Jumper from ZARA buy similar here

5. Green, gold & pink playsuit from NEXT (a gift)

6. Yellow skirt from H&M (used to be Miss 7's)
    Purple Mermaid t-shirt from H&M

7. Pink & White dress from H&M (used to be Miss 7's)

8. Mint green dress with sequin heart detail from Debenhams buy here

Pool/Beach wear:

The two piece swimsuit and rash vest (UV 50+) are from Leigh Tucker at Dunnes Stores buy here and here
Sun,Sand,Sea,Surf swimsuit is from Heatons
Flip Flops and Sunglasses from Penneys and Sun Hat from Dunnes

Karen

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My Favourite Zara Kids Sale Buys

These are a few of my buys from my visit to  Zara's sale last week.

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I LOVE this outfit I picked up for Babyboy. This navy sweatshit is fab quality, it is a light knit and perfect for the summer evenings. I teamed this with my "old reliable" legging trousers that I just love on my little boy!

You can buy a similar top here

Also for baby boy another pair of leggings (skateboard print) and this really cute t-shirt....I love the "Bonjour"

I got the girls a sweater each, The one I got for Miss 7 (behind) was one of the main reasons I went to the sale as I just love this top and think it would be so perfect over shorts and t-shirts on a summer evening!

You can buy the yellow version here

and for Miss 4 I got this adorable "Starfish" sweater, it is a soft peach colour and I love the print!

Karen

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Baby Boy Summer Haul

Why do babies grow so fast???? I can't believe my baby boy is 18 months old already.....this of course means he is starting to grow out of his last seasons clothes and with the "summer" here it was time to pick up a few pieces for the next age group and season for him. These are some of the items I bought:

From Penneys:

Soft denim short sleeve shirt €6
#Little Rock Star green t-shirt €4
Mickey Mouse grey sweatshirt €8


From GAP:

Grey Bird Print shorts buy here
Grey & Navy striped tank one piece buy here
White shirt with a navy & red geo print (shown underneath one piece) buy here
Blue shirt with navy floral print buy here
"Autumn Rose" pull up shorts buy here


From ZARA: (my favourite shop for babyboy!!) to be honest I would have bought a lot more from here but they didn't have most of what I wanted in his size (boo hoo) ah well I'll have to do an online shop

Turquoise " Cool Youngster Forever" t-shirt buy here

Red "Be You" with star print t-shirt buy here
Coral bike print t-shirt buy here


From Tesco:
I usually pick up something in the clothing department for one of the kids while I am doing my shopping and this is what I picked up for baby boy over the last few weeks:

2 Pack Yellow/Turquoise t-shirts
Red "I'm the Cool One" t-shirt
White "The Cool Baby Has Arrived" t-shirt buy here
Denim shorts (Bargain at €2.50!!!!)
Grey long sleeve top - also reduced to €2.50


And a few pieces from other shops....

Car print grey leggings (still my favourite type pants, even though I usually buy the ZARA ones.....see note above about no sizes!) from H&M (still can't buy online on H&M in Ireland (why???????????????????)
Purple (love this colour) "Coolifornia" t-shirt from River Island Mini buy here
Navy turtle print swim shorts from Debenhams, I also bought a white sunsafe rash vest (not pictured) to wear with these shorts (can never be too careful in the sun)


So I don't have much more to buy and he will be set up for the next few months!

Karen

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IKEA & Cookies

Last weekend we went to IKEA (I'm a little obsessed with this place and I get sooooooo excited about going) . The main reason for our trip was to get a coffee table that I have had my eye on for ages. We are currently redecorating our living room so I decided now was the perfect time any excuse to make the purchase. Anyone that has been to IKEA knows you can't really just pop in to get one thing...and this is definitely the case for me especially since my "local" store is 2 1/2 hours away (yes we did a 5 hour round trip with 3 kids for a coffee table!!!!.....it wasn't that bad though).

When we got home we used some of our new purchases to make some chocolate chip cookies.

So for our baking we bought a large baking sheet ,
a baking mat - this is in a really cute pink colour, you can roll it out onto the baking sheet, saves greasing the tray and your baking just slides off the mat
and two children's aprons for the girls - they are a great fit and tie with velcro so they can put them on themselves.

I stopped in Aldi on the way home to pick up the supplies (it turns out I had most of the ingredients at home already but I didn't want to take the chance.....ah well I'll just have to make another batch)

Since I have read/seen so much about them, I decided to try Tanya Burr's Chocolate Cookie recipe,
you can check it out here. These are incredibly easy to make and so yummy especially when still slightly warm......mmmmmmmmmm! I knew these were supposed to be large but I wasn't expecting them to be quite so big....but hey who's complaining???

Warm chocolate cookies and a cup of cold milk....the perfect treat at the end of the day.

Karen

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