Ahh its finally December!! Eek! Are you already in the Christmas spirit? Usually our tree doesn’t go up until the first weekend in December, but every weekend is so busy in December. So I decided to put it up last Saturday as we were both off, and Elian was already getting super excited about the prospect of the tree going up! So the house is now festively decorated and the Christmas season is being fully embraced.
I only started/restarted these monthly highlights and review posts last month. I felt I was missing that nice round up of what we have been up to and what ive been blogging/doing each month. I like having the ability to look back at the last month, or few months even, so hopefully I can keep these posts going in the new year…for now the structure is still a bit of a brain dump but Im ok with that!
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What we’ve been up to
Most of November has been spent with me and Jon working, so we haven’t managed to get out and about as much with the kids this month. Jon has been fully booked in the studio with Christmas sessions (and he still is for December!) But I’ve been super busy this month in the hope I can get all my blogging work finished before the Christmas season really starts so I can spend lots of time having fun with the kids…I’ve quite a few family Christmas things planned in already!
At the start of November we had Bonfire Night. As usually we attended a local community event at Bryncoch Rugby Club. Jon was sadly shooting a wedding so it was the kids, me, Bampa and Nana Tina (Jons dad and step mum) and my nephew Max. It was Effies first time seeing fireworks and I wasn’t sure how she would be with them, but she honestly loved them. I wrapped them both up super warm and I popped her in my back carrier. I did put ear defenders on her but she hated wearing them so took them off, luckily she wasn’t bothered by the bangs from the fireworks in the least. Which is the opposite of Elian! He hates the big bangs! So he kept his ear defenders on the whole time. He likes the colours and the wizzing rockets though. And our local display is amazing, I honestly think it gets better every year, and this year it seemed to go on for ages. It is very popular and busy though.
Other than that its mostly just been trips to the park, soft play and our regular baby classes!
What we’ve been loving
Elian has been testing out a few toys for upcoming reviews this past few weeks, and he is really loving this Little Tikes My First Battle Blaster. To be honest any sort of shooter is a big hit here, but I’ve not allowed him a proper Nerf style shooter yet. This is like a smaller kids version and comes with soft balls, which still travel really well. He loved taking it to the park, and has been shooting a monster target in the house all week! His aim is actually blinking good too!
I have been getting back into my musicals recently! So there has been a a lot of musical playlists on my Spotify account. Particularly Six, Avenue Q and Hamilton…although I’ve had the more traditional ones on when the kids have been in the car….not really sure ‘The Internet is for Porn’ would be the best song to teach my impressionable 5 year old on the way to school, hahaha!
I’m also a little in love with my new Cricut Joy!! I got the chance to work with them on a blog campaign this last month (find it here) and I loved using it! Cant wait to make lots more crafty bits now!
What I’ve been reading and loving
Reading – So this month I finished 2 books again
Lock Every Door by Riley Sager – This was the November book of the month from That Mama Club which is a group I am a part of on Instagram. It was a thriller….kinda! The premise of the book was great. It had so much scope and potential but I thought it was way too slow getting into the swing of the story and it missed out on being a lot more gripping, thrillery! lol! But it was an easy read none the less and I did enjoy it
The Flatshare by Beth O’Leary – I decided to try this one out after I had seen so many people raving about it on insta. And it was good. Again another really easy read. I blitzed through it in a few days just managing to grab a bit of reading time when putting Effie down to bed most evenings. Mostly just a love story with a sweet story line about helping an elderly man find a lost love, but it did have an underlying storyline of palliative care and death too.
Watching – Ok so its pretty much been Christmas films galore this month, and a few autumn season ones. I decided to take out the Hallmark TV subscription on my Fire TV stick (just for November and December) so I have just been working my way through the movies on there. They are all a bit cheesy, but always easy watching and kid friendly! Elian has also discovered the Home Alone Movies (all 6 of them!!! Who knew there were so many!) so he has wanted to watch them all a number of times. Again we’ve watched too much to list but here are a few highlights, both old and new
- Dynasty (New Season)
- Walking Dead (New Season)
- Home Sweet Home Alone (the newest one!)
- Arthur Christmas
- Love Hard (Netflix Movie)
- Red Notice
- Dr Sleep
- Tiger King (Series 2)
- Gold Rush (Newest Season)
- The Grinch (Newest animated one)
- Christmas Chronicles (the first 1)
What you might have missed in November
So November is pretty much all about Christmas gift guides on the blog. I’ve honestly spent weeks sorting products, taking photos and writing up the posts. But now they are all done I am so pleased. They are packed with tonnes of awesome gift ideas for all the family so please go check them out
- Gift Guide – Fun for all the Family
- Stocking Filler Gift Ideas for all the Family
- Gift Guide – Gift Ideas for Foodies
- Gift Guide – Dinosaur Themed Gift Ideas
- Gift Guide – Space Themed Gift Ideas
- Gift Guide – Gift Ideas for New Mums and Babies
But I managed a few non gift guide posts too, some are sponsored or reviews which you will notice. Ive been lucky to review some awesome items recently. Especially pleased with my Cricut Joy post and Jons new Regatta Jacket.
- Making Christmas Gifts with the Cricut Joy – AD
- Dressing Effie for Christmas Photos with Little Acorn Makes
- Keeping the Car Organised with a Dreambaby Car Seat Organiser
- Why You Should Buy a Ball Pit for Your Baby – Our Nuby Ball Pit Review
- Keeping Dry with Regatta Britedale Waterproof Jacket
- Caring For Yourself During Holiday Travels
- Serving Up Looks With The Best-Fitting Dresses
- 9 Ways to Help You Calm Down When You’re Stressed or Anxious
November Goals Review
So I kept it fairly simple for November on the Goals and Aims front, here they are and how they went:
- Finish Christmas Shopping – I just need a helmet for dude and a pair of trousers for my dad. Plus to take Elian to buy some little bits for Jon
- Get back on track with Slimming World – ummm….I actually decided to leave until the new year, I took a realistic look at our calendar and realised I was literally so busy every week I could barely fit class in, and online doesn’t work for me. So I officially stopped and promised my rep Id rejoin in the new year after we’ve been to Bluestone. And I genuinely will as I know it works for me when I am on plan
- Meal plan and budget – Meal plan…tick. Budget…not so much! Has anyone noticed the price of food has increased loads recently! I used to be able to easily stick to £400 a month, even at Tesco but now its getting harder, so im not quite back on track with that yet. But I am meal planning again and aiming to stick to it!
- Keep listing on Vinted – Yep! I listed a pile more and sold a good few items, need to just keep going and helpfully Ill make a decent dent in the amount of kids clothing we have in the house and make a little extra money too!
- Publish all gift guides – done, they are all listed above!
- Earn £200 from side hustles for personal debt – Managed this, and a bit extra! Mostly blogging posts but also the vented money and the sale of my breast pump and a baby carrier I had
- Read 2 new books – done as you can see above
Aims and Goals for December
Oh I cant say I’ve thought a huge amount about any goals or aims for this month really. I just want to have some fun as a family, do some lovely festive things (we had quite a few things booked luckily!) and have a nice Christmas! So let’s just scrap the goals for this month! Hehe!
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Really interesting read. Lots to think about. Thank you