University
Published April 23, 2012 | 
My daughter is now thinking hard about what she will do when she finishes her GCSE’s.
She loves Media Studies at school and is considering the prospect of going to university to study once she has gone through sixth form college. She has been looking on the internet for universities in London as she doesn’t want to be too far from home and it would be easier for her to commute if she wants too.
She has told me it is a bit daunting looking at the courses available, I know she doesn’t have to worry about this just yet but she does. She will have more of an idea of what course she wants to do once finishing sixth form and then she can apply to university.
I have looked at some of the universities and there are some really good courses that could help her get very far in life with her Media work for example Advertising, Journalism, Creative Writing and lots more.
I am so pleased my daughter wants to do well when she leaves school, As I think half the battle with the children is when they leave school they have no idea what they want to do in life.
Teenagers and Exams
Published April 19, 2012 | My daughter is in year 10 and has started her exams already, which I was rather surprised at as back in my day we had mock exams in year 10 and then the real ones in year 11.
The key to exams is revision, 10 to 20 minutes a day is plenty and your mind is more likely to absorb what you are revising if you do it for a small amount of time per day.
This is what I am trying to tell my daughter, she could even do this in registration instead of chatting to
her friends. She comes home and all she wants to do is kick back and relax instead of doing her homework
and revising. Which ok, I understand that she has been at school all day learning and now she wants a social life, talk to her friends, she’s at that age, But this will gradually start to make her behind
on subjects.
What she seems to not get a grasp of is that what is does now will have an impact on her future.
She is weak at a couple of subjects and these are core subjects that will make a difference to whether she will get into college and university and progress to get a good job or end up with a job she doesn’t really want to be in but has to make do.
So now I am the bad guy as I take her mobile phone away from her for an hour in this time she does 15 minutes revision and 45 minutes homework that way she will stay levelled with all of her coursework and homework.
I do not want her to end up in a deadend job with no prospects and its not what she wants either.
Me & My Plant Update
Published April 17, 2012 | Well it’s been a while since I wrote about receiving Khloe, Karen and Karla the Kalanchoe’s.
They are still alive since the last photos the flowers are now gone though so I thought it was about to die, I have since removed all the dead flowers.
However I has got lots and lots of baby leaves sprout from each plant so obviously it is still alive and thriving.
I really have no clue when it comes to plants, so I am just watering them when they seem a little dry I have not fed them anything as I keep forgetting to get any baby bio or whatever its called when I am out.
Here are a couple of pictures of their new growths.
The Digital Joneses
Published March 31, 2012 | As you might already be aware my family were one of the ten families choosen to be part of The Digital Joneses Project.
Digital Joneses is an initiative by security software company Trend Micro to better understand the reality of how families across the UK are using the internet and the impact that it is having on their lives and their relationships.
We will be given a number of tasks and challenges throughout the year, designed to highlight some of the main concerns and problems that families face today; whether that’s security, lifestyle changes or the role technology plays in relationships with friends and family.
You can meet all the Digital Joneses Families here http://www.facebook.com/DigitalJoneses?sk=app_234335063312434
Task 1 was to see what our Digital I.Q was by completing a short survey.
Our results were:
Rach: 9/14
Roger: 10/14
Tiffany:
Skye: Not tested as only 5
Why not try it yourself to see how aware you are https://go.trendmicro.com/digitaljoneses/index.html
Task 2 was set last week.
The Talk 2.0
We had to film someone from our family giving The Talk 2.0.
There’s a big knowledge gap between what children say they do and what they actually do online. A recent Trend Micro survey showed that even though 83 per cent of parents are very concerned about the things their children are exposed to online, only a third are confident that they know everything their child is doing online.
But it’s not just the children - Most of the time, adults give nothing away, but when they go online, they suddenly drop their guard, which is bizarre, because once you’re in cyber space, you need to be more streetwise than ever.
So our task was to video a talk about being safe online, in a way that doesn’t come across as a scare tactic but just advise really.
This could be a child talking to an adult or an adult talking to a child.
Here is our Talk 2.0
Roger talking to Tiffany
Thank you for looking 
Posted in Life | 
Family, Internet Safety, The Digital Joneses Project, Trend Micro | 
Leave a commentKFC Trialling Bottle Warmers
Published March 28, 2012 | Thanks to Donna Lovegrove KFC are now trialling Bottle Warmers at a few selected stores until April 30th.
To read the article go here http://www.portsmouth.co.uk/news/colonel-sanders-changes-his-mind-thanks-to-portsmouth-baby-1-3673372
It’s great to see KFC are trialling the bottle warmers I would have thought any food place that have a significant amount of families using it would offer the service. I hope they continue with this after the 30th April and all KFC’s have them as well as other fast food places and anywhere selling food for families.
It goes to show what one woman can actually do if they truly believe in something!
So Sweet!
Published March 16, 2012 | I was woken this morning by a little madam coming into my bedroom waving a bit of paper at me.
I sat up in bed trying to focus at this piece of paper flapping around and noticed there was writing on it and still Skye is waving this bit of paper right under my nose. She kept telling me it was something REALLY special just for mum.
Eventually I managed to grab hold of the paper and actually see what it was and here it is…
A picture of Mummy, Daddy, Tiff and Skye plus the 2 dogs in a house with 4 windows.
The writing if you can’t see it says..
” To mum
Happy muvoos day
Love from
Skye”
with lots of hearts and kisses all around.
How sweet is that!!!
I love the way she has spelt Mother’s it did make me laugh but she was spelling it how she would say it so definitely top marks for effort.
It brought tears to my eyes, Such a thoughtful little girl.
At her age getting up before my parents I would have trashed my room, not her she draws and writes.
Parents Evening
Published March 15, 2012 | It was Parents Evening Tuesday for Skye, she’s in Reception Class or as her school called it Foundation Class.
I had no worries really with her myself as she is overly confident in herself and is never backwards in coming forward.
She can read and write pretty well and mingles well with other children.
We got there just before our alloted time 4.15pm but the teacher was running over so we eventually got seen at about 4.35pm, nevermind we had a look through Skye’s work books and then at fish tank and had a look at the wall display that I did find rather interesting as it was a timeline of the school from the 1800′s to the present day with old letters and photos etc.
Finally we get called in, Skye came with us so she set about playing with the Lego and then started drawing.
We were told she has an amazing vocabulary for a 5 year old. Her reading and writing are above average, she is good with numbers and is now attempting to write sums.
Infact she was praised throughout the meeting.
The only thing the teacher has noticed is Skye likes to plan ahead and if something doesn’t happen when it is supposed to, Say the teacher has said they will do a certain thing next but it doesn’t happen, Skye will then start asking questions like why has it not happened and she seems rather miffed by the change.
Questioning is a good thing though isn’t it as it shows she’s paying attention.
The teacher also said they were learning about animals last week and the teacher was telling the children that a dog is an animal. To that Skye replied ” No they are not!” the teacher said obviously yes they are Skye in which Skye replied ” They are pets!” which made the teacher laugh as Skye was adement that dogs were not animals and that her teacher was so very wrong.
So all in all a brilliant Parents Evening and a very happy Mummy and Daddy!
Goodbye Google Friends Connect
Published March 2, 2012 | As you may have been aware GFC (Google Friends Connect) retired on the 1st March 2012.
I actually liked this widget and its a great shame that they have retired it.
With that said things move on so I will have to move on with it and find other ways of allowing my readers to following my blog.
If you look to the right sidebar at the top you can Subscribe by Email, Which is great as all posts will go straight into your inbox once per day, Unless I don’t post anything that day then you won’t receive anything.
A new feature is the Google + I am still working on this as only just set up a page over there just click the badge to follow me on there.
Linky Followers is very much the same as GFC you will need to sign in or make an account to follow with this one.
and the ever trusty Networked Blogs is still with us.
I hope you all can follow me in some way whether it be through one of the options above or through my Facebook Page and Twitter.
Rach x
Posted in Life | Email Subscription, GFC, Google +, Linky Followers, Networked Blogs, Ways to Follow | 1 CommentShes Skylanders Mad!
Published February 9, 2012 | Ever since we had the Skylanders Xbox game to review my daughter, who has only just turned 5 comes home from school and puts it on for an hour.
The game is PEGI 7 but she plays it so well.
She has asked for more characters besides the 3 she got with the starter pack.
However this has been a virtually impossible quest as everywhere are out of stock and when they do get stock it goes really fast.
Now other places DO have Skylanders for sale but in my eyes they are totally cashing in on the fact that they are so hard to get hold of by charging stupid amounts of money.
I saw a go for over £100 on ebay a few weeks back. I think that is ridiculous, I would never pay that amount of money for them considering when the stock replenishes in the UK they will be going for a mere £7.49.
But I suppose some people want them asap and are willing to pay that.
Anyway we found our first triple pack which had Voodood, Boomer and Prism Break, It was a reasonable price considering the other insane amounts at £20.70
My daughter was ecstatic when these arrived as she had been stuck on a certain Chaos level and couldn’t complete it. Plus this pack had 2 elements that she didn’t have so now she could unlock more gates.
My daughter was still struggling with this Chaos level though and asked if we could buy yet more Skylanders, she had some birthday money left over so we ordered 2 more triple packs.
Unfortunately with a month + wait but very cheap at only £14.95 however this price has now gone up by £5, thankfully they have honoured the original price and we got 1 pack yesterday, still waiting for the other pack.
Even better news was Argos have the single figures in stock for £7.49 so she picked four from there too.
So we now have a growing family of 13 Skylanders we did have an extra Hex so sold her and will hopefully be replacing her with Terrafin soon, and with the other triple pack coming soon that will be 16, Half of the collection.
They are all lined up on my TV unit ready to play…
I have also heard that they will be bringing out more games to use the same Skylanders, which is brilliant as I know these will get used plenty.
I would say to anyone who are looking to buy Skylanders that they are being made and slowly despatched, I think the manufacturer was caught by surprise at how popular they would become. Check Argos frequently as there seems to be a little flow of stock coming through and don’t be sucked in to paying the stupid amounts for a “rare” that is only rare until the stock is replenished.
A Week Or Two Of Illness
Published February 7, 2012 | Starting from last Monday.
My youngest Skye went to school full of beans like she usually does but by hometime her teacher told us that she had been lethargic and heavy eyed.
Now for anyone that knows Skye this is far from her usual Jack in the box springing out of her box and bouncing off the walls.
No sooner had we got home she wanted to lay down on the sofa and sleep another sure sign of illness for her. Half an hour later she was sick EVERYWHERE.
Roger my husband was running around like a headless chicken he really is no good when it comes to sick.
Thankfully she was only sick the once, then slept.
We kept constant check of her temperature which was a high and administated her Calpol to keep it down. That worked but she was still very sleepy but now she was complaining of achy neck and legs and that she was cold. This is from the girl that never wears a jumper because shes always hot. Poor thing.
By Wednesday evening she was a lot more perkier so off to school she went on Thursday.
Saturday she seemed to go downhill again and was sleepy but other than a runny nose everything else was fine and It didn’t stop her playing in the snow on Sunday.
Then Thursday Tiff texted me from school just before home time, her ear hurts what can she do to stop it. I told her to take some Ibuprofen when she got home to see if it eased.
Well it didn’t poor girl was in agony all night constantly crying in pain and wimpering all night.
Unfortunately there was not much I could do for her and just kept up with paracetamol and Ibuprofen alternate.
Friday morning she was no better so took her to the doctors, She had a perforated ear drum and was given antibiotics and told not to get any water in her ear for 2 weeks otherwise she will be in more pain.
Tiff started the antibiotics as soon as she got home and fell asleep after taking them, probably catching up on the sleep she missed from the night before.
Yesterday she was fed up with her hair and wanted to wash it. Now this was an exceptional task with not getting her ear wet. She did manage just about though.
Tiff was shouting at Skye yesterday so a clear sign her ear is not giving her any more trouble.
Now both girls are back to school and it seems the lurgy that Skye has last week has now come to me.
Thanks for sharing kids, You really shouldn’t have!!! lol.
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