Day Trip #1 The Regal Cinema Redruth

On Wednesday I took the children on the first trip of our summer holidays. I'll start by saying now it cost a heck of a lot more than I ever intended! The night before, I checked out the cinema film listings, nothing really caught my eye. Midge had already seen the new pet movie, I can't bring myself to watch the BFG (I know it's had rave reviews and I'm sure it's a wonderful film but I so love the book and the original that I'm firmly in the old camp with this one!) I saw they were showing Angry Birds as the bargain movie so we chose that one. All the seats were £1.99 but I was charged for 4 seats which I was refunded at the end. I purchased the small popcorn but didn't have my glasses on so couldn't see how much this was going to cost but each one must've been over £2 because my total (minus the refund) was around £14...not as ouch as a regular film but still ouch for my budget.

Me, A and Midge

Both the children were really well behaved. It was A's first time going to a cinema and it was in my mind that he may get overwhelmed but he was really happy watching the film snuggled into me. The film must've been about half hour late due to technical issues but eventually we got there and the film was really funny. I'm glad we watched it and hope there's another one coming out in the future!

Happy A in the cinema

After the cinema, the children wanted something to eat so we picked something up from the bakery: A cupcake for Midge and a pasty for A. I saw a little toy shop where midge picked up a lovely hair clip pack and A bought a minecraft box. I'm annoyed that I paid £3.99 for the box and it was ME that lost his toy on the train on the way home! If it was him I'd have said 'tough luck' but it was all my fault so we headed to the supermarket on our way home to get Mr B some pop and buy a replacement toy for A. Luckily he chose a £1.50 car this time!

Midge with a cupcake, A with a pasty on the train.

We all had a lovely day together. Midge and A saw their friends on the train so they had a 5 minute natter. A loves train travel so it was always going to be a thumbs up from him! We all enjoyed the movie and I'm pleased our cinema does a bargain offer like that now and then. I'm just a little peeved that I spent so much on the first outing!

What have you been up to this week?

Cupcake Mumma

Last Day of School 2016

A cake I made for the reception class to say goodbye

I have real mixed emotions about my children finishing their school year. I'm finding with A I'm really excited about his next step in education and I've had some wonderful support from his teachers and other staff in regards to his transition. His teacher next year is known by us and him as she taught him in nursery and we had a great parent teacher relationship then and still get on really well now. I don't believe he'll struggle to settle in any less than most of the children in his class and in fact, most children going from a play based learning environment in reception to a year 1 class where it's more structured, involving guided reading and a morning of English then Maths, phew! It's going to be tough for almost all of the children so I'm not worried about A as much as I was a few months ago before we had his meetings.

It's Midge that is giving the me the most anxiety. Last night I couldn't sleep so stayed on the sofa for a bit thinking and it just hit me that she's going into year 4..year 4!? That means she has only a couple of years left of primary and I feel so, so nervous for her. She's so quiet and sensitive and has had a few issues at school with the other girls. It's fair to say that my own experiences of school and seeing my girl almost following in my footsteps in regards to wanting to be friends with everyone and be kind, not wanting to upset anyone and being pretty shy brings back a heck of a lot for me and whilst I am not showing my insecruteris or anxieties in front of her, I'm really struggling to get over the fact that she's getting older and it's like, where the heck has all this time gone?

Anyway, they were both really excited yesterday. Midge has a post on her own blog about her last day. She left sobbing, A left hyper as anything, no idea what they fed them at their party! A had a small graduation ceremony which was lovely if a little long winded, he received an award for his phonics and hard work. Midge came home with her certificate yesterday which was for 'always being a fabulous friend.' I couldn't be happier! They both looked so grown up in their non uniform and trotting into school with their teacher gifts. A left school with a lovely goody bag from his teachers which I thought was a lovely touch.

 Last day of school photo!

A's goody bag

So now it's time for the summer holidays and I am looking forward to them. I'm not sure I can compete with last year but i'll give it a good go! I'll be posting up my summer bucket list soon as we all have ideas we want to share and put some adventures on our calendar!

I hope all your little (and big!) ones had a lovely final week of term and weren't too sad to say goodbye to their friends and teachers (and some cases schools!) Have a lovely summer holiday and do share with me any fun plans and outings you have!

Cupcake Mumma

Freebies, Bargains and Wins ~ June

June came and went and I didn't have much freebie or bargain success. To be fair, I've been putting money I have spare in my savings and ISA for any tooth or pet related emergencies in the (hopefully not near) future so bargains haven't really been my thing lately (in other words they have, but I've had to be really good and ignore them!) I entered 3 competitions and my prizes arrived last month. Midge was over the moon with her LaLaLoopsy doll set and I was over the moon with my massive American marshmallows from a twitter win! I finally received my pillow cover prize, I had to choose a new one in the end but it is a pretty design. 


My favourite bargains last month were a big bottle of J2O from Poundland, a beautiful jumper for Midge which I had been eyeing for what seems like forever to be moved to a sale rail and 3 for the price of 2 nail polishes from Superdrug. Below you can see my lovely blue nails and Midge's pink nails. We had some nice girl time trying out our new polishes. 


I'm pretty sure there were some freebies in June but I just can't remember what they were. I do apply for a fair few but it's always whether they will get here in time for the posts and on this occasion, June hasn't been a good month for getting them here! I've had a few this month so for July this space won't be so empty!

Have you had a freebies, prizes or bargains you'd like to share?

Cupcake Mumma

Sports Day 2016

It's nearly the end of the school year before we pack up for 6 weeks then run around like crazy buying new uniform and getting all emotional at our 'babies' going up yet another year and naturally it's time schools like to pack in as much as possible into the final 2 or 3 weeks! We've just had our sports days, one going ahead as planned and one pushed back due to the rather unpredictable July weather! 


Midges sports day was first up. The field was all set up for the whole of the upper school (year 3 upwards) with loads of different activities some being traditional (track, sprint, long jump) and a rather odd slow bike race (yeah I'm hoping they ditch that next year!) The school tried a new thing this year in keeping with the Olympics, all children would have a great time and take part then from every year group the top 3 from each race would be invited back to a finals later in the day. This was quite nice actually because Midge tried her best but knowing she isn't very sporty she didn't expect to win anything. She did get a 4th in the sprint and did well in the sack race and would've done better if she didn't keep losing her shoes on the track event bless her! She didn't go through to the finals but she was happy with that and enjoyed cheering all her peers on in the afternoon with her fellow class mates. 

Roo's sports day was the following week on what started out a rather wet day. Come 12.30pm though the sun shone (rather cruelly it didn't seem all that hot so I carried on the day with no sun cream, low and behold I was feeling quite unwell and resembled a tomato come 5pm!) Roo enjoyed his day, he didn't fully understand all the races so took the lead from his friends leaving him behind so half way round I got to sit with him and explain to him one to one what he was supposed to do which helped a lot! He had fun throwing bean bags into hoops, was deeply embarrassed by falling over in the sack race, had evidently inherited my fab egg and spoon race skills and came 3rd in the obstacle race so he got his sticker, yey!

All the children got a medal at the end of their sports day which I thought was a lovely touch.

I loved the difference in the sports days but did remember wishing that the school put more effort into younger children's day as they did the older childrens'. The teachers were all wonderful though and it was nice to be close to our children as they went around and did the events like my parents could when I was younger. 

Have you had sports day yet? Do you have competitive children? Roo is definitely going to get more competitive but I think Midge will be pretty laid back about future sports days too!

Race for Life 2016 ~ In Loving Memory of Anne

I was going to write this post soon after I finished the race on Sunday, 10th July but I never got around to it. I wanted to do the Race for Life this year as I didn't participate the year before. What spurred me on was learning a friends mum, an extremely close friend's mum, was undergoing treatment for the third time for cancer. As the time drew nearer it wasn't long before we all knew that she just wasn't going to win this round. I wanted her to know that I cared, that I loved her family like it was my own, so together myself and my own Mum made sure we raised funds and completed our race for life. Anne was on my mind the days leading up to the event and whilst tied to one of my mum's legs, hobbling around with an aching muscle and bruised ankle, it was Anne and my friend that kept me going. 

Below are some photos I took of this race event which was in Truro like it is every year. There were nearly 900 people taking part and many, many supporters cheering us all on. This post, much like my race, is dedicated to Anne, Mother of an extremely close and wonderful friend not just to me but to many. A lady who I know did a lot of good and leaves behind a wonderful man and many grandchildren but who led a full life and fought to the end. May you rest peacefully Anne and enjoy the view from upstairs 
xxxx

 My back sign

 Everybody getting ready for the warm up. So many people there again this year.

 Dad presenting mum with her medal after the race.

 Mum and I before the start of the race

 If you'd like to sponsor us for taking part this year and help us reach the £200 we're so very close to, you can do so below, A huge thank you to all those who have sponsored us both before and after the event. Also a huge thank you to the lovely ladies who sent happy mail to Anne. I know it meant a lot to her and it also meant a lot to her family too. Thank you x


June at The Cupcakes

I really thought June was going to be a turn around month weather wise, lots of sun and trips out to enjoy it at the weekend but mostly its been rubbish and muggy, I've not known what to wear and have found it really frustrating at times! We did get some sun and took advantage of that on the school runs well, the children did! I spent several days in the month going through more dental stuff like root canals and fillings which may or may not all be over...watch this space as they say! 

Little A had another ENT appointment and I'm pleased to say he's got some hearing back in one of his ears! This means I have rescheduled his appointment to check his ears again to 3 months time and then we will decide what to do if things haven't improved. We had a little baby hot chocolate before heading to the hospital because we had some time to spare. I took a trip over to see my Aunt in Penzance after her dog had passed away which wasn't much fun obviously but it was lovely to see her and spend time with her even on a gloomy day. 

Chilled out Roo//Root canal time//Penzance//Sticky plant fight!//Costa dates//Dog cuddles// LalaLoopsy prize and a happy Midge

A few days after I visited my aunt I went back with my Mum to gather at hers and head to the local woodlands where we laid her little dog Poppy to rest. She had a lovely headstone, all the dogs made it easier by eating grass, barking, nearly falling into the grave and sleeping in a pushchair! Dogs should be at all funerals that I'm sure of!

I got through some books in June after having a dry spell and met up with some school parents on several occasions to have a Costa and an natter, I won 2 competitions in June but I was happy because my prizes were a new doll for Midge which she loves and 2 packets of huge marshmallows! We celebrated their arrival with s'mores which are a must try if you haven't yet!

Babychino with Roo before the doctors// Snoozing dog// Poppy's headstone// Pretty flowers on a wet day// Caitlin Moran book which I enjoyed// Winning huge marshmallows// S'more making// Roos 'please don't put me to bed' face...

Yummy pudding//Morning me time//Catching the gales from the sunlight//Shopping with Mr B// Midge's gorgeous new pink unicorn jumper// Mr B in Costa// Girl time!// Newly painted nails

During the end of June Mr B had some time off so he treated me to a lovely breakfast after we dropped the children off then a Costa after some shopping. I finally bought Midge the unicorn jumper we had both been after for ages hoping it would go on sale for a cheaper price and it did! It's beautiful. We had a picky tea for his weekend off and Midge and I have had some bonding girl time painting nails and talking about school, friends and all sorts of other things.

Junes Blog Posts!

10 Reasons to Smile May
Freebies and Wins April and May
* May at the Cupcakes
* Seal Life Sanctuary Gweek: Half Term Fun!
* Reasons to be Cheerful: Goodbyes and Quality Time
* Tackling my Social Anxiety
* Top 10 Budget Friendly Summer Activities