With a family as large as mine we're used to making our own entertainment. A family ticket doesn't ever stretch to 2 adults and 7 children, and going anywhere costs an arm and a leg. Even a take away with 5 teenagers involved is likely to come in around 50 quid....

We've had 2 weeks of GCSE exams and meetings and all kinds of stress, so we thought it would be a great thing if we could all have a night of fun and relax a bit, eat some special food and have a laugh. Money Supermarket's 'Big Night In' was a challenge that suits us perfectly - with no babysitters within 80 miles, staying in is the new 'going out' and we knew we could have a great night in for £50.

I decided on an 'International' theme for the evening, so arranged the menu accordingly, with Spanish Tapas, Chinese Egg Fried Rice, Indian Onion Bhaji's and 'make your own' Italian Pizza!


I found a great recipe for a pizza base in 'Mama's Italian Cookbook' and prepared the dough a couple of hours before we needed it, chopped and readied loads of toppings and made a simple tomato pizza sauce...



Then I let them loose in MY kitchen!




The results were really very impressive, incredibly tasty and even boy no.3 ate every single bit of his own personal creation! I even made myself a cheeseless pizza, which I was delighted with and shall definitely be making again.


After pizza we all snacked on the Tapas and Bhaji's while we played games...

All the children have had a time where they've been really interested in Pinata, and boy no.3 at 4 years old has just recently seen one on the TV and thought it was amazing, so we thought it would be a perfect addition  to the evening. It's a Mexican tradition, and a few sweets could be a great dessert and treat for our special evening.

We had no idea just how solid these things are. What in the heck does it take to smash one, because we couldn't do it!?


We even tried moving it so that no-one could miss!



After about three quarters an hour of endless bashing and vented frustrations I gave in, opened the lid and took everything out....

Inside, as well as oodles of sweeties, I had poured a huge bag of foam letters for the next game. I challenged the children to make as many country names as possible in 10 minutes - mis-spellings were disallowed!

Boy no.2 with a great effort

The winner - girl no.1 - even though Mordor still wouldn't have counted even if she'd found all the letters!

We then settled down with our sweeties and the remains of the Tapas and watched a movie together. It's one we've seen before, but we love it and the first 10 minutes are the most poignant 10 minutes of any film ever, so I've been looking for an excuse to buy it for ages, even though it makes my eyes itchy (or possibly I just sob like a fallen infant). I claim it fits the international theme because it is about a man who travels the world finding adventure. My other half claims I cheated.


Our final game for the evening took place after the 2 little ones had gone to bed (very late and very tired). We played the 'sticky note on your forehead game' - which probably has a name, but I don't think I've ever known it! To carry on the International theme we had to be countries and guess which we were by asking 'yes/no' questions.

Morocco and Japan - some countries are definitely easier to guess than others!

We then packed all the teenagers off to bed and the two of us settled down with a coffee and the final part of our evening, a film which we first saw at the cinema in 2006 when we were dating, long before we all lived together - and it's Russian - plus as a bonus we have an extra DVD for next weekend!


For our £50 International Big Night In we bought ~

Veggie Tapas £6
Home Made Onion Bhajis £1
Home Made Egg Fried Rice £2.20
Home Made Pizzas x 8 £11.25
Pinata £8
Sweets £2.50
Sticky Foam Letters £2.50
Post It Notes £1
Up Blu-Ray £9.99
Night Watch DVD £7.99
We spent an extra £1 on a relatively early night..... ;)

And the Pinata? Well he's a bit bashed, but still very much in one piece and with us....

Mister Maker Watch And Make Volume 5 is one of the newest releases from Abbey Home Media.


I'm sure parents of any child under 5 need no introduction to this CBeebies character who uses everyday objects often found around the home in his fabulous craft projects. This DVD runs for over an hour and a half and contains 5 episodes of the TV show including -

• Mister Maker Makes a Splattered Space Picture!
• Mister Maker Shows you the Perfect Boredom Buster!
• Mister Maker has Fun with Bubbles!
• Mister Maker Makes a Brilliant Wrap Picture!
• Mister Maker Makes a Space Age City!

We're familiar with Mister Maker, having before particularly liked one of his junk modelled cars and the almost infamous 'Beans On toast'.  There are tons of craft ideas in here to keep you and your children busy for weeks, if not months.
This DVD was great and my 4 year old is very keen to try the 'Splattered Space Picture', which is incredibly simple to make, but very effective, using splattered paint to create a starry backdrop, and simple brown paper ripped to rough shape to make craters and volcano-type mounds while his little brother was particularly taken with the 'Wobbly Eggs', created using a plastic 2 part egg which you would buy containing a toy and then usually just throw away.
My favourite is the 'Fun With Bubbles' Octopus, with bubble wrap tentacles!

I like Mister Maker because everything is simple to make and doesn't cost a fortune in materials. It also doesn't require the artistic talent that I lack. I can rip paper as well as anyone (maybe) and following his tips and guidance I can make a pretty cool space picture that's almost as good as anything my 4 year old can make!

You never know, maybe I'll post a photo if I become confident enough in my own abilities!

Abbey Home Media have kindly offered 3 x Mister Maker Volume 5 DVD's for me to give away to my readers. You can find the competition by clicking on this link.

We give this DVD 4/5 and will definitely be spending some time this weekend buying tissue paper and googly eyes!

The DVD includes 5 episodes and has a running time of 95 minutes approx. It contains simple and fun craft activities suitable for young children to complete at home using mainly items that would be otherwise thrown away.


We really like it, and to see our full review and thoughts please click this link

For chance to win a copy of the DVD please complete the Rafflecopter below..

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I fed all 5 of my babies beyond a year, most of them beyond 18 months. A good friend of mine stopped feeding her first child at 12 months because of family pressure and it broke her heart. They both cried for days and nights. I may have shed a tear when a few of mine didn't want it any more, but it was short-lived (and twice I blamed my pregnancy hormones as I was already pregnant with the next one at the time).

I think with the first one, because it had been a nightmare initially I was adamant I'd get plenty of milk into him. I also wanted to better my Mother, who had fed only my younger brother, but had done so for 18 months.

Although no-one was ever openly hostile towards me, I was a bit coy sometimes, so I'd say 'I'm just settling him off', rather than publicly declare I was going to go to his bedroom and nurse my 18 month old. By the time I got to number 5 I generally didn't care at all with friends or strangers, but was a bit more unwilling to admit it with an aquaintance. It wasn't so much that I was bothered about their opinion, it was more that I didn't want to have to explain myself - but then I shouldn't have to. 

The World Health Organisation advises Mothers to nurse until 2 years or beyond. That is the WORLD HEALTH ORGANISATION. It's not the woman down the road, it's the authority for health within the whole United Nations. So why on Earth do we find it acceptable here to be pleased when anyone carries on after 6 weeks? Why do we look at people nursing a toddler with surprise? Why couldn't I feel comfortable to continue to nurse my child publicly any more once they were talking and walking?

Boy no.3 ~ Snow! ~ 18 months

I stopped feeding each of my babies when they and I were ready. I listened to no-one who dared to say anything and I challenged them and cited the World Health Organisation advice. Each time a child of mine was ill I was delighted to catch the same cold or illness because I knew I'd be helping them recover. Each time I held them and they looked at my face and settled and went to sleep I felt pure love.

Boy no.4 ~ 17 months

I'd like to think that when my children have their babies, breastfeeding will be something they don't think twice about, and they will have the confidence to nurse, and support their partners to have the confidence to nurse, for as long as is right for Mum and baby. I know I've normalised that in my household at least, and hopefully with a few friends and relatives who were around me at the time.

Don't forget I have a heap of fabulous competitions from Babasling, Lactivist, Rayne Beau Bloos and Breastvest as well as the main competition Rafflecopter which is below....


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Here are some links to some of the other Bloggers taking part in the Keep Britain Breastfeeding Scavenger Hunt....

Pea Musings

The Seven Year Hitch
Mummies Waiting
Sorry About The Mess

The Chill Factore at The Trafford Centre in Manchester has recently started offering Snow Play Parties and invited a bunch of Bloggers and our children to try them out.

Inside the huge Chill Factore building - so THIS is what it looks like...

Suited and Booted and Ready to go... .......once they'd finished playing on the benches

The parties are suitable for children aged 2 and up, and before I went I couldn't really see how well that was likely to work, as my experience of young children tells me after 15 minutes in the snow they're worn out and cold and want to go into the warm, rest and heat back up. It was not the case at all. My 3 and 4 year olds were out there for 90 minutes really happy even with all the extra clothing on, plenty of tumbles and the odd snowball..

Chill Factore Snow Park and Carousel

Sledging, Luge and Tubing

Snow Party Activities take place in the Snow Park, and can include SnowPlay, Tubing, Luge and different types of Sledging depending on the ages of the children.There is also a brand new spinning carousel which all ages of children can use.

The new Carousel at Chill Factore - which for some children had a similar calming effect to a smooth car journey...

Children aged 4 and over can try Sledging, which was better with Dad than with me as I manged a spectacular crash, taking out a part of a netting barrier and a photographers tripod. Thankfully my son thought it was 'awesun', so I retained a little parental dignity.

I broke this man's tripod! (Sorry)

Ready to go....

And they're off....

The small slope in the Snow Play area offered plenty of sledging fun too.

 We really did have a great time. It's easy to forget you are indoors. The ambient temperature is nice, your face never gets cold and the snow is mainly compacted and doesn't punish you in the same way as walking to the shops in natural snow would. I thought there wasn't much there to keep them entertained, but I was wrong, although 90 minutes was just about their limit and they were worn out by then anyway.

King of his Castle.....erm.....Snowplough

After the play we were treated to a sample of the menu, with various pizzas and chips, which got the thumbs up from all my children, including 2 of the girls who joined us after shopping. The food was really well cooked and very tasty, the pizzas were really nice and the chips crisp.

I will definitely go again and I think it makes a great party venue. I've been meaning to go for so long and it was all so much quicker and easier than I expected. The suits are not like the last time I wore one on a school trip as a teenager, they're light and really comfortable. The snow is not really deep and tiring, if anything we needed a bit more loose snow for snowballs! It's a real fun thing to do and the pricing is comparable with most other days out activities and children's parties.

Not quite enough snow for snowballing...but he tried!

Chill Factore Snow Play Parties cost from £9 per child with the standard menu, with a minimum of 10.
Hire of jacket and trousers £6 per day, Boots and Helmets are free of charge.
The Chill Factore Snow Play currently costs £6 per person or £20 for a family of 4 for 30 minutes.

It took me 5 days in hospital to get my first one to feed. 5 heartbreaking days of me sweating in my dressing gown and slippers and watching all the other new Mums come and go. 5 days of pumping milk that my little man wouldn't take at all for 3 days, and at 4 days not from anything except a bottle or a cup. 5 days of watching him turn yellow with jaundice and begging for a wet nappy. 5 days of me sobbing and feeling a complete failure.

I was just 22 and had no friends who breastfed, and no family to call upon. My partner's Mother hadn't breasfed in the late 60's, it wasn't usual, so she couldn't help me either. Everyone could watch, but the help I needed wasn't available. I had my child on a Friday, and the one and only breastfeeding support worker only worked Tuesdays. There was no internet like there is today, all I had for reference was a badly photocopied pamphlet with line drawings.

All the midwives tried to help, but a lot of the advice was to just stop, give in and look after myself, I was falling to pieces and that was no good for my baby. I couldn't though. I WAS GOING TO BREASTFEED MY CHILD.

My partner of the time (the Father to my first 3 children) suffered from Asthma and I knew without any doubt that to breastfeed would help protect my child. I knew that in the long run if my child developed Asthma, I would live with my own feelings of failure forever. He was fantastic. He trusted I was doing the right thing and didn't try to deter me. I suppose he knew I would give up when I really had no choice and didn't want to crush me unnecessarily.

All the time there was one Midwife who was truly on my side and desperate for me to nurse. She had the weekend off, and I missed her so much for those 2 days. I felt incredibly alone, and so very small in that great big hospital full of people who couldn't put their finger on how to help. It was awful for her when she arrived at work on the Monday to find me still there and still unable to get my child to latch except for about 3 occasions over the whole 4 days. It really was hell.

By 2pm on that last day I was ready to give in. I couldn't take the punishment any more and my child was getting ill. I would pump and give him a bottle for as long as my milk would allow and I'd been warned this would likely be 6 weeks at best. I couldn't afford an electric pump, they cost hundreds at the time, so it would all be hand pumped. It was at this point of pretty much no return that my Midwife did a stunning thing. She gave me advice she was not allowed to give, she told me a secret. She told my partner to go to Mothercare or Boots and buy nipple shields. It was a last ditch effort, and one which would still probably only give us 6 weeks, but it was worth a shot and would be far easier than hand-pumping milk.
My bags packed for home, my partner came back within an hour and the Midwife took a shield and poured boiled water over it. I positioned it and brought my baby to me. What happened next was beyond my wildest dreams - my baby latched on and fed. No hassle, no screaming and crying, he just fed. I sobbed some more, repeatedly thanking her. I cried again as we left hospital, unsure of what lay ahead, but confident I could do it.

I knew that with the nipple shields my milk production would be reduced because of the lack of stimulation, and I wanted to be able to feed for as long as we both wanted, so, for the next 6 weeks I carried on feeding whenever my son showed an interest. My Health Visitor told me I was 'wasting my time' and that my milk would stop, it was pointless.

For the first week or 2 I expected to suddenly find nothing there, but there was always gallons of milk, I woke up in a puddle every night and leaked all the time. I began to get a little more confident and look to the future. I needed to get rid of the shields, the sterilising and carrying them about with me was frustrating and made it virtually impossible for me to ever feed in public. I started trying to get him to latch before positioning the shield. At first he'd only occasionally even try, but by 4 weeks had taken a handful of feeds without a shield. At 5 weeks he took 2 feeds running without a shield and I knew it was working. I was still feeding my baby and I still had milk. He was just less than 6 weeks when we stopped using nipple shields all together. It is one of the proudest days of my life.

I carried the nipple shields around with me for a few more months, but I never needed them again. I fed my child until he was 19 months old and loved every moment. He did develop Asthma briefly between the ages of 7 and 9, but since then has never had any more signs of any allergy. My 2nd child nursed from birth until 21 months, and my 3rd until 20 months. Neither ever had any Asthma, only a little Eczema which they no longer have.

Support in those early weeks is absolutely vital. I had a very good and obvious reason for breastfeeding and I wasn't going to give up. I felt completely alone and useless and I battled every step of the way. I had to fight for what I knew to be worthwhile, when everyone around me thought it was a waste of everyone's time. I never saw a breastfeeding support worker, even though I didn't leave hospital until after she should have been working all day. At the time there were no numbers to call, no support groups, no volunteers that anyone knew of. No internet to turn to. Without that Midwife breaking the rules and giving me her own personal advice from what she'd seen over the years, I probably would never have been able to put my child to the breast. I will never forget her, her name was Claire. 

My 5th (3) and my 1st (19)

To this day I have no idea why my first child was so stubborn in those early days, why he just wouldn't do what he was told. I guess he must take after his Mum....

In all I spent around 8 years breastfeeding and every moment was worthwhile. I made it, and looking back I will forever be proud of myself because I did it alone. Many, many Mums give up when they don't need to. There is support everywhere now and all Health Professionals have a duty to help you, including your Health Visitor Team, GP and Midwife. Groups and volunteers such as The La Leche League, The NCT, The Breastfeeding Network, Keep Britain Breastfeeding and Lactivist are all there waiting to listen and help. Don't be scared to ask.


There are loads of fabulous bloggers taking part in the Keep Britain Breastfeeding Scavenger Hunt including

Oh So Amelia
Faded Seaside Mama
Mama Geek
Life, Love And Living With Boys
Pobbing Along

 The Benefits of Breastfeeding

I'm a fan of breastfeeding. I won't judge anyone for not doing it, but I think it's a shame if you don't at least give it a try. I fed all 5 of mine for between 15 and 21 months, until it felt right to stop or they decided they weren't interested any more.

We all know now that it's indisputable that breastfeeding has positive physical benefits for baby and Mum. I don't need to tell you about the reduction in allergies (baby), stomach bugs (baby), Cancer (Mum), Ear Infections (baby) or Meningitis (baby). I don't have to harp on about the better bond between parent and child. I'm sure I don't even need to point out that breastfeeding for 12 months will save you around £600. I probably don't even need to point out that children who were breastfed as babies score higher on average in intelligence tests. 


 The difference I want to point out is that breastfeeding your child makes you calmer. It makes you relax. It forces you to sit on your backside for hours every day holding your child. You might read, watch pulp movies or dreadful soaps, you might blog or surf the internet, you could even take up playing games like I did (I got 2 Platinum trophies on the Playstation 3 whilst feeding no.4, the teenagers were incredibly proud). Whatever you are doing, you won't be racing about at breakneck speed or worrying too much about the dust on the shelves. Every 3 hours you are demanded to go and have a sit down for half an hour or more (often more!). 


Life takes on a different pace. You relax into it. You will go to sleep much more quickly at night, and you will sleep better. You'll be less likely to snap at people or be grouchy. You'll worry less although you may think more. You'll have more time to chat and will be able to rekindle friendships and write that e-mail you've been meaning to write for the last 6 months


  
The lovely people at Lactivist have a huge online resource on their blog at www.lactivist.net where you can find masses of information about breastfeeding and should be able to answer any questions you can think of. They also have a great range of breastfeeding friendly slogan t-shirts, badges, bags and all kinds of whatnots and I am able to offer you a discount code. 

For the whole of Breastfeeding week enter Discount Code KBB13 when you place an order and get 10% off anything at www.lactivist.co.uk

They have also kindly donated a Keep Britain Breastfeeding T-shirt for me to give away to one of my readers in an infant's size of your choosing (subject to stock being available).



a Rafflecopter giveaway

Please take a look at all of my other Keep Britain Breastfeeding Competitions which are all listed on this page.

There are loads of great bloggers taking part in the Scavenger Hunt, including:


RedRoseMummy
Little Lilypad Co
In The Playroom
A Baby On Board