There’s no denying it – raising a child is expensive. One estimate in The Guardian says that it’ll cost parents around £222,500 to rear a child until university age, so you’re going to want to save as much money as you can until they are able to leave the nest. It’s very easy to overspend on babies, who quickly grow out of clothes and toys, so this article is here to help new parents buy secondhand for their children. This is an ideal age to be saving money as babies aren’t going to worry about the latest fashions and trends, so take a look at our advice and test it out by having ...
Archives for March 2014
Monday Parenting Pin It Party #46
Happy Monday lovely pinners and welcome to this weeks' parenting pin it party. I do hope that all of our UK Mums had a great Mother's Day yesterday. We had a fantastic array of entries last week so narrowing it down to just two of my favourites was very hard indeed. After much deliberation I finally settled on these two top posts to pin. If you did not get a chance to read them, please do. They will not disappoint. The first is this adorable Easter craft from Sparkling Buds. So simple but super cute. Just how we like to craft in Casa B. Secondly, a really thoughtful post ...
Win An Awesome Dino Adventure Toy Set From WOW Toys
When WOW recently asked me if The Boy and I wished to review one of their toys I must confess that I had not heard of them before. After just two minutes browsing their website though I could not accept fast enough. The designs on show were super cute and their major focus is that none of their toys require any batteries. Yep, NO BATTERIES. If you have kids of your own I am sure you will understand the huge wave of relief those two simple words can create. Loving all-things-dinosaur at Casa B we could not resist the Dino-Adventure set and eagerly awaited it's arrival. However, upon ...
Monday Parenting Pin It Party #45
Welcome to another Monday Parenting Pin it Party. This weeks hostess with the most-ess is the wonderful Annie from Love all Blogs so do pop over and say hi. She won't actually be posting until tomorrow though as she has been super busy with her awesome Team Honk efforts for Sports Relief 2014. If you have not donated yet we would be delighted if you would! Just pop on over here. You can still link up your posts here today though and Annie will be visiting each through the week. If you are new to the party, welcome, and here is what to do: 1. Link up one, or more, of your own ...
Happiness
The lovely Carolin from Mummy Alarm has reliably informed me that today is actually International Day of Happiness. Who knew? Not me. After a particularly disturbed nights sleep, dreaming of being chased by Balaclava wearing strangers through an extremely creepy abandoned school, I am not exactly full of the joys of Spring today. But she won't take no for an answer so, *drags self up from grumpy-slump*, it is time to get my happy-on. So, the three things that make me happiest... ...yep, these three ...
First words
Little Miss is now eight months old and is a complete chatterbox. Oddly enough she spoke her very first words on New Year's Day and, just like her brother, despite my relentless 'mama, mama' coaching she said.... ....well it wasn't mama. It is her word of choice and she shouts it constantly. Here she is in action. Remind you of anyone? Is Dada every child's first word? Do let me know below. ...
5:2 Diet: Chicken and White Bean Stew
Although we are no longer doing the 5:2 diet I recently made this stew from the BBC Good Food Magazine and think that it would make a perfect evening meal option. It is healthy, cheap, filling and only 291 calories per serving, (without the bread). It was also really simple to make and even the toddler liked it, despite the vegetables! For this recipe you will need: 2 tbsp sunflower oil 400g boneless, skinless chicken thighs, trimmed and cut into chunks 1 onion, finely chopped 3 carrots, finely chopped 3 celery sticks, finely chopped 2 thyme sprigs or ½ tsp dried ...
Painting Flowers: Center Parcs March Challenge
I love that all of the Center Parcs' challenges I have taken part in so far have been really seasonal. For March the challenge is painting flowers which has led to some lovely discussions between myself and the boy about Spring. I really think the challenges so far have helped him to begin to grasp a bit about the different seasons and what they entail. It may be a little over-simplified but he has certainly got to grips with the fact that in Autumn the leaves fall from the trees, that Winter is cold and there may be snow and, now, that in Spring the flowers come back out. We spent ...
Monday Parenting Pin It Party #44
Happy Monday lovely pinners and welcome to this weeks' parenting pin it party. Also wishing you a very happy St Patrick's Day. We had a fantastic forty-three entries last week so narrowing it down to just two of my favourites was really not easy. After much deliberation I finally settled on these two. If you did not get a chance to read them, please do. They will not disappoint. The first is this adorable St Patrick's Day garland from A Dose of Paige. I am definitely going to give this a go next year. Secondly, with the sun finally making an appearance, I am ...
Prize Draw: Win A Peter Rabbit Nursery Bundle
I have such fond memories of reading the Beatrix Potter stories as a child. Those little white books were some of my favourites and the illustrations just beautiful. The boy is now getting to an age where I think he will enjoy them too and I can't wait to start reading them with him. I am hoping that Little Miss will love them too. I am delighted that this month, to coincide with Rainbow Designs launch of their new Peter Rabbit range, I am giving away a Peter Rabbit Nursery Bundle to one lucky Mum of One reader. These will also be available to purchase from John Lewis and independent ...