Learning made fun

A Day In The Life of Our Newcastle Franchisee

A GUEST blog by Debbie Caygill,the Newcastle franchisee, about her typical day.

Usually our day begins at 5.55am when Sam, will come into our room and slide into bed next to me, closely followed by my daughter, Amy. Although there is no real need for the alarm clock, my husbands alarm goes off at 6.30am and he goes for a quick shower while I lie for another 10 minutes talking to the children. I am then followed into the bathroom by both children and Sam always comes into the shower with me. I quickly dry my hair, and Sam's, and then we join Daddy downstairs. Chris, my husband, usually has juice on the table for Amy & Sam and a coffee for me, after hugs and kisses he is off to work at 7am.

After breakfast we all go upstairs, get washed and brush our teeth. I then find it works best to get the children dressed and get them downstairs watching Peppa Pig before I dress myself. Amy started school last September so it takes half the time to get dressed now as she has little choice over what she wears, the only decision is whether to wear a dress or a skirt. Sam, being only 2, hasn't developed the need to try everything on in his wardrobe yet, before deciding on what to wear for the day, so I choose his clothes and quickly get him ready. We are potty training at the moment too so I make sure he has been to the potty before dressing him.

 Children ready and I get a few moments to myself while they watch TV and Amy decides on what she would like doing with her hair today. I get dressed and load my car with everything I will need for the day ahead. Sunday night I look at my diary for the week and see what lesson plan I am doing, which story and what prop to take for musical bumps. Be prepared...that is definitely something a remembered from guides. That is one thing I really liked about the Musical Minis franchise, everything is done for you. On buying the franchise you are given 14 lesson plans, plus extra's for Christmas, Summer & Easter, so each week you know exactly what you are going to do. All I have to do is decide on what story and which prop for the week. At the start of each term I make a diary for that term with the lesson number, the story and the prop for each week. On a Sunday night I get everything ready at the front of the garage and all I need to do is load the car up on a morning. I also check my register for the week to see if it's anyone's birthday, any new siblings or attendance certificates to print off. So after loading the car I do Amy's hair, which in itself is an almighty task, then shoes on and most morning we are out the house by 8.30am to avoid the traffic.

Shloer Cocktail - Review

AS a follow up to my last Shloer review I have been asked to review and make a Shloer cocktail that can be drunk to have a non alcoholic Sparkling Valentine’s Day.

If you want to enjoy a bottle of bubbly this Valentine’s Day Shloer is a non-alcoholic sparkling drink to enjoy with both the one you love and your children.

I was sent 2 bottles of Shloer - a White Grape and Elderflower and a Red Grape bottle - in order to make the cocktail. The cocktail I made was called It's Your Shhhparkle.The ingredients for 1 drink are:-

100ml Shloer White Grape & Elderflower
25ml Shloer Red Grape
10ml lemon juice
5ml sugar syrup 

Mix the ingredients into a glass and garnish with a lemon slice and red and white grapes. 

The cocktail was easy and fun to make and tasted really good - a sparkling refreshing drink with a sweet and sour kick. I particularly liked the colour - a warm pink.

A Day In The Life Of Our Scotland Regional Manager

A GUEST blog by Claire Clint our Regional Manager in Scotland about her typical day.

My day usually begins around 7am with my 3 year old daughter Gemma kissing my cheek and telling me it’s morning (sounds sickly sweet but it really is true). We lie in bed and have a chat before my 8 year old Aimee joins us and we then begin the mad dash to get ready for school. I’d like to say mornings are calm but in my house they never are. We always seem to be against the clock and although I hate doing it, I really have to nag my girls to get them dressed and get them to eat their breakfast before it’s time to take Aimee to school. I’d love to be organised enough to walk to school with Aimee but I’m ashamed to say we drive almost every morning (it‘s only a 5 minute walk and I hope that when the better weather comes we can make the effort and walk but at the moment we take the easy option and drive).

Once we have dropped Aimee at school this is where it becomes difficult to write about a typical day - actually there is no such thing as a typical day for me, my job is so varied that no two days are ever the same - the main thing I love about being a Regional Manager for Musical Minis. I have randomly chosen a day to write about (Wednesday, in case you wondered) and although I know roughly what will happen during this day, nothing is set in stone and this is probably not what would happen every Wednesday.. Most mornings, however, are spent doing something with Gemma who goes to nursery in the afternoon.

Lotus Tissues With Olbas

RECENTLY I was sent a box of Lotus tissues with Olbas to review. I know tissues are something which all Mums quickly learn not to leave the house without.

These are portrayed as a new brand of family tissues which combine the luxurious softness of Lotus tissues with the breathe-easy family favourite Olbas. They are embedded with oil capsules, that when crushed release natural soothing vapours.

Lotus Olbas Facial Tissues are implanted using ground-breaking crush technology. The mixture of natural vapours including menthol, eucalyptus, juniper berries and cajuput are only released when the tissue is crushed.

The arrival of the box of tissues was very timely as my daughter developed a cold the next day! The tissues are soft but you sometimes forget to crush them to release the vapours.

Hands First Power Scrub+ - Review

I OFFERED to review Hands First Power Scrub which is defined as skin protection for the hardest working hands. They claim that the leisurely hobbies you love (and the dreaded household chores you love less) can often leave your hands in a neglected and sorry state. I do agree with this so was delighted when my free sample arrived.

The makers state that protecting your hands when carrying out cleaning and manual tasks, which can often cause skin sensitivity and dryness, can be easily achieved through hand conditioning and aftercare. Hands First, a revolutionary new hand care range, has been specifically designed to effectively protect, cleanse and condition your hands both before and after manual tasks to keep them looking and feeling their best.

For ultra effective cleansing for busy working hands, use Hands First Power Scrub+ & Moisturiser. Its dual-action formula contains natural pumice and walnut shell for deep down cleansing and natural blue cypress oil for skin conditioning. Cutting through ingrained dirt, grease and grime Hands First Power Scrub+ & Moisturiser has all the scrubbing effects of a hand exfoliator but with moisturising and conditioning properties combined.