Family Time at Prezzo

During the half term last week the children and I met up with my sister and her daughters for a lunch treat at Prezzo. The school holidays gave us the perfect opportunity to get together with the children to enjoy some food. 

Prezzo have made family dining even easier and family orientated with their new La Famiglia Feast sharing dish. We, as a family love to sit and eat together and regardless what others have everybody wants to dig in and try other meals which when you are out can be a bit difficult. But Prezzo have created the perfect feast for a family. One large bowl of pasta, side dishes, drinks and even ice cream. One bowl for everyone to share. This is ideal for families and a fantastic way to come together over some delicious food.

Kale and Egg Brunch

Since starting the Slimming World eating plan back in October I have been focused on good, healthy food to get my weight down. I have now lost 30lbs and now is the time to start thinking about toning up and getting fit. My weight loss has slowed down and this is due to me relaxing the eating plan a little and then need for more exercise. I was recently referred to the gym via my lovely doctor who could see how my belly was affecting me. During my twin pregnancy I got huge and my poor stomach was stretched more than I thought it was possible. I carried two, beautiful, healthy babies so believe me I am not ashamed of how my stomach looks now. It is a testament to carrying two 6lbs babies at the same time. But I do get very uncomfortable as I have been left with excess skin. After visit the doctor, who I will admit was so much more understanding than I was expecting she advised me to loose weigh, which I am doing, and improve my fitness. After waiting for almost 4 months I got the call from the gym! I have had my induction session and a tailor made workout has been set for me. This week is my second week of going to the gym. At the moment I have only been twice but I am hoping to up it to 2 sessions a week. 

Now that I am focusing on my fitness, the food, on my gym days, has changed. I am not concentrating so much on the 'syns' but eating what I know is good for me. Before I go to the gym I start the day with a bowl of my Full of Energy Porridge. This bowl of porridge is full of goodness from the oats, banana, cinnamon and peanut butter, just what my body needs before a good workout. What you eat after a workout is just as important. Protein is essential after exercise as it helps to repair your muscles. My go to protein foods are eggs and chicken. Today I am sharing with you one of my favourite post workout meals, Kale and Egg Brunch. This is such a simple meal that is full of flavour and full of goodness!

This is what I did...

20 Questions to Ask your Children

Have you seen the latest craze on social media where parents ask their children a series of questions? As you can imagine the answers to the vary from child to child dependent on age and gender. But you can guarantee that the answers will portray a variety of sentiments. They really do give us a glimpse into their imaginative minds. So when Shepherds Friendly asked me if I would like to have a go and ask the children a series of questions I thought it would be a great idea. I love the idea of asking the same set of questions next January to compare their answers as they get older.

Their answers made me smile, made me giggle, made me gasp and, of course, made my heart melt. This is what they said...

#FoodieseekerFriday - Fun Around the Pool and Food!

Before we went on our holiday with Carnival one of the things that the children were looking forward to was playing in the pools. I knew that the outside areas would be where we would spend a lot of our time while onboard Vista.

The main, central hub of the ship was on deck 10 at the Beach Pool. This was where the majority of the activity was. There was a quieter pool on the same deck at the rear of this ship, Tides Pool.

This was our favourite pool. As it was a quieter pool it was ideal for the twins to become more adventurous in the water. However J spent most of the time at the Carnival Waterworks water park. This was the place for water slides, water fall and splashing fun!

J is a confident swimmer so he loves to be off. In the past Little I was the more confident in the water so I did not have any real worries but Little T, on the other hand, really was not sure. When he was smaller he did not like loud noises and seemed to have sensitive ears, he hated water being near them. As he got older he became more tolerant of water and even enjoys showers. So before we left for our holiday I got thinking about how I could make swimming more exciting for him. What would give both the twins more encouragement to get into the water. This led me to SwimFin.

#FoodieseekerFriday - Green Eggs and Ham Breakfast and Fun with Dr Seuss

Hello and welcome to another FoodieseekerFriday!

This week I am excited to be telling you all about our experience with the Dr Seuss themed activities. Before we went on holiday we introduced the children to the magical world of Dr Seuss as we wanted them to be familiar with who they were going to see. This worked fantastically. The twins were so excited when they saw the Dr Seuss Bookville that is situated at the entrance to Camp Ocean, the children's club. They immediately dug into the variety of books that are available for families to read. While they were in the kids club they did take part in some Dr Seuss themed activities but I was delighted to find that the main activities were ones that the who family could enjoy together. While we were onboard Carnival Vista we indulged on the Dr Seuss breakfast of Green Eggs and Ham and reveled in the madness that was the story time, Seuss-a-Palooza, which I was one of the chosen parents to take part in telling the story of The Cat in the Hat. Today I am going to tell you all about the weird and wonderful dishes that we tucked into during the Green Eggs and Ham Breakfast and show you how we retold the story in Seuss-a-Palooza!

On our final full day onboard Vista we woke early and ventured up to the Reflections restaurant. Just the title of the breakfast left us all curious to see what culinary delights would be waiting for us. I had taken a sneaky look at the menu before we left home and so I knew that we would be experiencing a breakfast like no other. This was to be a truly unique feast.

In the words of Carnival...

 The Green Eggs and Ham Breakfast

With The Cat in the Hat and Friends

It's a mouthful when it is said,

But delicious to enjoy,

Whether you're a mom or a dad,

Or a girl or a Boy!

The menu contained a wide variety of wacky dishes that really brought out our inner child. You could start with cereals if you wanted to but we decided to skip the regular and go straight to the dishes that we had gone for! The meals on the menu included:

Do You Like Green Eggs and Ham?

"Would you, could you, on a boat? Try them while you float. Try them and you may, I say."

Truffla Tree Pancakes

"Those pancakes! Those pancakes! Stacked high as the trees. I've been searching my whole life for stacks such as these."

Finding The Perfect Car For A Growing Family!

Once the twins arrived we knew that we would need a larger car. As soon as we knew that they were on their way we had to say goodbye to the sporty car and say hello to the practical larger car. Since the twins arrival, four years ago we are now on our third car! How have we got through so many cars you may wonder. This is simply down to poor choice, until the car we have now. The second car that we bought, we thought that it was going to be bigger, but in hindsight we rushed the purchase and really did not make the right decision.

We underestimated how much room three growing children would need especially when it comes to going on holiday! As the children grew, so did our need for a larger car. It got to the point where our boot would be jam packed and we would need to put other things in a second car. Be it my parents or my mother in laws car. This was fine, but we were not always going to have people in a second car going on holiday with us!

21st May - 26th May 2016 - One Picture Everyday For One Year

What a gorgeous week! It has been lovely to have the summer return. This week has seen us enjoy a lovely weekend with family and getting ready to enjoy the children's half term holiday.

Here is my week in pictures...

Saturday 21st May 2016

Saturday was a regular sort of day. Ballet in the morning and just spending time doing things around the house. Saturday was also World Whisky Day so it would have been rude to not have a wee dram!

Sunday 22nd May 2016

26th March - 1st April 2016 - One Picture Everyday For One Year

This week I am a little later with my Project366 post, last week was manic. The children are on their Easter holidays from school so getting time to sit and write is proving a little difficult! But on we plod! Last week we finally saw some lovely days and the children have enjoyed being able to go out in the garden to play. Fingers crossed we have more days like that next week!

Here is my week in pictures...

Saturday 26th March 2016

On Saturday we spent the day at my mother in laws and enjoyed a delicious Easter lamb dinner. While we were there I discovered that I have been nominated for The MADS best food blog! To say I was gob smacked is an understatement. I haven't written a post about the awards so this was a real surprise!

19th March - 25th March 2016 - One Picture Everyday for One Year

This week has been such a long week and one that I am pleased is over. The children have got more and more tired as the week has gone on. I can tell that they are ready for the Easter break. Towards the end of the week things started getting back into a routine, which has been good.

This week has seen a heartbreaking day, a meal out, signs of spring and food!

Here is my week in pictures...

Saturday 19th March 2016

On Saturday when we popped out to Tesco the three children loved taking part in their Easter egg hunt challenge. They were over the moon with their Easter bag of treats!

Sunday 20th March 2016

20th February - 27th February 2016 - One Picture Everyday For One Year

Last week I posted my Project366 a little earlier as we were celebrating the twins birthday last Saturday. This week I am going to post Saturday to Friday again. I have found this to be an easier way to post my project366. Doing it this way has allowed me more time with my family and less time on the laptop.

This week has been a tough week but I am hopeful that it is the start of things getting more positive. Here is my week in pictures...

Saturday 20th February 2016

Saturday was the twins birthday! They turned four, my babies are now four! For their birthday we enjoyed a family meal celebrating. I will be telling you all about our lunch out next week so keep an eye out for that!

Sunday 21st February 2016

On Sunday we had another birthday meal at my mum and dads. They loved getting a second birthday cake and blowing the candles out again.

Monday 22nd February 2016

I love seeing the twins interact together and on Monday they were so loving to each other I simply had to capture it. Taylor was snuggled up with Isabella watching her play on her Kindle. They played lovely all afternoon, which these days, is a rarity!

Tuesday 23rd February 2016

Tuesday was one of the days I do not look forward to in the year. Tuesday marked the fourth anniversary of loosing my Nanna.

Wednesday 24th February 2016

On Wednesday I had an appointment with the doctor. My moods and depression has been bad again so I went to see someone about it. My medication is in the process of being changed, with this, I am hoping to see a difference.

Thursday 25th February 2016

On Thursday I was busy taking photographs outside while it was lovely and sunny and I noticed this feather. I know it is just a bird feather but I do like the saying that an angel was near by.

Friday 26th February 2016

On Friday I went shopping to by some products in preparation of fair trade fortnight and when I saw these beautiful fair trade roses in Aldi I simply could not refuse them. Flowers for a blog post, why not!

17th January - 23rd January 2016 - One Picture Everyday For One Year

This week has been an exhausting week and a week that we are all pleased has ended better than it started.

This week has seen sleepless nights, worry, hospital visits, and relief!

Here is our week in pictures...

Sunday 17th January 2016

Sunday started off as a relaxing day. We did a few jobs around the house, took the dogs for a walk and had a lovely Sunday dinner. That is until we got the phone call. At 9:45pm we had a call telling us that the hubby's dad had been rushed into hospital. So we rushed over to support his mum and see how he was which resulted in us being there until 2:30am. By the time we got home it was 3am and by then we had got past tired. In the end it was about 4am when we got to sleep and were then up as normal the following day!

Monday 18th January 2016

13th December - 19th December 2015 - One Picture Everyday For One Year

Well that is the last week of school done! It has been a busy week full of Christmas activities, services and fun. Now that the children have finished school we are well and truly on our way to Christmas day. The hubby only has three more working days and I am preparing for some much deserved time off too.

Here is our week in pictures...

Sunday 13th December 2015

On Sunday the hubby was busy doing jobs around the house so Taylor and I had a trip to Tesco just the two of us. I forgot how easy it is shopping with just one child! It was lovely having a bit of time with Taylor. When we got to Tesco he was so excited to see that it was Star Wars day and he could not wait to join in with some of the activities that they were running.

Christmas Activities

Now that the twins are at nursery they have become more eager to do arts and crafts. You will have noticed that I do not write craft posts, I am not in the slightest bit artistic. But I have got next week with the three children at home. I need to find plenty of activities to keep them all busy while the excitement builds as Christmas gets closer and there are so many times you can bake!

I know that I am not going to be the only mum out there that is like this so I thought that I would share with you my top ideas for keeping the kids busy before Christmas arrives.

Baking and Food Fun

Baking is a must at any time of year, but at Christmas even more so! There are so many foodie treats that can be made. Go for easy bakes which the children can do, this will keep them busy making the bakes but they will be so proud to see the finish product! Here are a couple of ideas that I have tried and tested and would definitely recommend!

Christmas Activities with Lakeland

Baking Christmas Brownies

Make a Fun Picnic Lunch

6th December - 12th December 2015 - One Picture, Everyday For One Year

Can you believe we are at week 50? Another Project365 is almost complete! This has been yet another busy week. As we get closer to Christmas the weeks seem to go quicker. This week has seen, as usual a lot of foodie pictures, Christmas activities, a ballet show and a good pre Christmas clean up!

This is our week in pictures...

Sunday 6th December 2015

On Sunday morning Isabella took part in a Frozen workshop at her ballet class. She had been looking forward to dancing to Frozen all week. She absolutely loved taking part and they even did a performance on the stage to the song Let It Go. All of the girls in her class are 3 - 4 years old and they all did a great job, they looked so cute. We can see Isabella becoming quite the performer!

Monday 7th December 2015

29th November - 5th December 2015 - One Picture Everyday For One Year

Wow this week has been a busy one. I feel like I have not stopped. This has been because of an increase in work, which is great especially at this time of year, and the twins being off school for two days. But at last Christmas has arrived to the Hijacked By Twins household.

Here is our week in pictures...

Sunday 29th November 2015

On Sunday we decided to light our annual Christmas candle. This year I bought the Noel candle from Crabtree and Evelyn which, when lit, fills the room with Christmas aromas.

Bakedin Christmas Special Recipe Box

Last year you may remember that I worked with Gousto and wrote a review on their delicious recipe boxes. These are great boxes which arrive with all of the ingredients and step by step instructions on how to create a restaurant style meal. We all really enjoyed the meals that we received. So when they got in touch with me again asking me if I would like to try their Bakedin Christmas recipe boxes that are perfect for little hands I could not turn them down. Now that the twins are three they love to help me in the kitchen when they get the chance so I knew that they would love this.

Bakedin have joined forces with Michel Roux to create a deliciously festive Snowflake Brownie box. We received two boxes, one for the twins and one for Joseph to bake with. Joseph also loves to bake, but he likes do bake independently. He is now 11 and wants to done things on his own so this box is an ideal way to raise his confidence in cooking. These boxes are a perfect way to help children bake more independently. All of the ingredients are labelled and pre weighed so all that the children need to do is add a couple of fresh ingredients, have some adult help when using the oven and they can make their own delicious treats.

Here is how the twins got on making their own Snowflake Brownie...

22nd November - 28th November 2015 - One Picture Everyday For One Year

This week has been so busy and has flown by. The Christmas feeling has started to enter our house. I have been reading more and more Christmas recipes, we have made our Christmas pudding and I have even started to plan Christmas activities for the children during the week that runs up to Christmas.

This week has seen Christmas puddings, saving money doing our shopping, Christmas dinner, beautiful sunrises and a lot of chocolate! Here is our week in pictures...

Sunday 22nd November 2015

Sunday was stir up Sunday and as tradition states we made our Christmas pudding. I was lucky to receive a sixpence from the Royal Mint for our pudding this year. I am hoping that this sixpence will be the start of a great family tradition and one that we will continue for years to come. Then passed down through generations.

15th November - 21st November 2015 - One Picture Everyday For One Year

As I sit typing the dates I cannot believe that we are half way through November! It will be December before we know it!

This week has not really been an eventful week. The children have been at school and I have been stuck in thanks to my back playing up again. But this has meant that we have had a lot of quality time together. This week has seen silly selfies, food and ballet.

Here is our week in pictures...

Sunday 15th November 2015

I took this photograph while we were at my mum and dads on Sunday. I love sitting and watching the twins interact together when they do not know that they are being watched. I have always enjoyed watching them and listening to them chatting together. Here they were sat together playing on the i-Pad and solving the puzzles on a game.

Keeping Our Homes Secure

I don't know about your children but the twins are obsessed with playing with keys. House keys, car keys or toy keys, they love them! We have often had to look through the toys to see where they had been playing with some keys.

So when I was asked if I had ever thought about using a key safe, it did get me thinking. What would happen if the twins got hold of the house keys and lost them? What would happen if the car keys got lost?

We would be lost!

It is amazing how keys can mean so much and how much we take them for granted.

You may have read in the past that we are planning to to extend our house next year and change the kitchen setting. When I took a look at security websites, such as Fast Keys I was amazed by how many home security and safety items that they provide and how they could fit into our house. When it comes to refurbishing the kitchen a key safe will be top of the list. The safe pictured below would be my ideal choice. Not only will the colour blend in but there are hooks for 100 keys and will keep them fully secure and safe from little fingers. This slim key safe would fit perfectly behind the door, it is not big or bulky or obtrusive. It is discreet and adds an extra bit of security to the home.

Photograph courtesy of Fast Keys

8th November - 14th November 2015 - One Picture Everyday for One Year

This week has been a week of ups and down, thankfully mainly up, but the week has ended not so great thanks to my back.

This week has flown, as they all seem to be doing recently. We have had parents evening, homemade bread, a new cake, fantastic bargains and a date night!

Here is our week in pictures...

Sunday 8th November 2015

On Sunday we took a family walk out with the dogs in the morning. This is becoming a good part of our Sunday routine. We all get wrapped up and go out with the dogs. As always we visited my mum and dad for Sunday dinner and when we got home in the evening the hubby decided that he wanted some cake so I tried and successfully made and prepared a cake in just 10 minutes!