Reasons to be cheerful: birthdays, Wii and more #r2bc

I do believe it is Friday which means I'm late, I'm late for a very important date! It is a good job this is one of the most laid back linkies on the Internet... Preparing for being back in a real job and a return to some pre-lockdown activities has caused me to get behind! Lots of these have been reasons to be cheerful though. I hope that you have some reasons of your own to share?

What do you have to do? Easy: 

1. Link up a post about something that is making you happy or grateful. It can be a list, photos or any way you fancy. 

2. Add the #R2BC badge (at the end of this post) onto your post or blog so that people can easily find the linky and join in too if they want to 

3. Share the love. This is the really important bit. Please don't just link and run, comment on at least a couple of posts and why not share with #R2BC too? 

I'll stop by all linked up posts to comment and I'll share on social media too. 

Meanwhile here are my reasons to be cheerful for this week:

1) Belated birthday celebrations

As my dad had to be quarantined after a holiday to Holland we only celebrated his birthday (and my daughter's boyfriend's) with a takeaway curry and a cake made by my daughter:

2) Wii fun

We are having so much fun on the old Wii. It does get temperamental sometimes as its an original so pretty ancient! I am finally getting the hang of Mario Kart - typically there was a disc read failure after I managed my first ever 2nd place:

3) Days out

Now I am mobile again we have had a couple of days out into the Lakes. One trip to catch up with a family friend staying in Langdale and one visiting Grizedale Forest. The sheep seemed please to see us:

Game Review: Skylanders Giants #MumsLoveSkylanders

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When we came back from holiday to a missed parcel notice I realised that it must be the Skylanders set we were being sent to review. When I told my 6 year old he wanted to get down to the sorting office straight away to collect it as he has been asking for Skylanders for months! He was oh so excited to open the parcel to see what was inside:

As a starter set it comes with the Wii game, the portal of power and 3 Skylander Giants figures. The set retails at around £34 from places such as Amazon which is about par for the course for console games. It was easy to set up as I just had to plug in the portal using the USB cable and put in the game disc.

In the past with some Wii games I find them frustrating as my son has to constantly ask me to help or tell him what do. This time after selecting the Easy level on Story mode he just got on with it himself:

He was soon working out how to control the characters after choosing which one to put on the portal:

On the Easy level the game gave hints and tips that really helped him get going including suggesting he changed his giant:

I like the fact that the game makes the children solve problems and use their brain power and its not just about hitting things or going fast. Its a real challenge to get through some of the adventures and my son had to help his big sister work some out when she finally got allowed a turn! 

There is a battle mode but we haven't yet had a chance to try that one out as they are both keen to work their way through to the end of the adventure! I have been advised by others that to complete the game we may need to buy some more figures.... So I am guessing that my son is either going to have to save up or ask family members for more on his birthday. Then again we could just keep entering the daily competitions on UKMums.tv to win some more!

Wii - Fitness for all the family?

As you may be aware from previous blogposts this year I am really trying to get both myself and my children nice and fit. With all the bad weather and time constraints one of the main ways we have been doing this is by using the Wii to have fun exercise sessions. Obviously with children aged 7 and 3 they have different capabilities and require varying amounts of input so we have experimented with a few different games (thank heavens for Christmas and birthday money!).


We had 2 of the original fitness games Wii Fit for me and Family Fitness Trainer more for the children. In the past I've found the Wii Fit great for a regular workout and for charting my progress. Unfortunately I'm having issues with the balance board which is preventing me using it at the minute (must get around to sorting it out!). 


Family Fitness Trainer uses a mat that is plugged into the Wii. It is fairly simple to operate but requires some level of co-ordination - which my 4 year old sometimes finds tricky. My children do enjoy competing against each other and earning points and high scores. I have to admit that being competitive myself I enjoy staying top of the high score table for Mole Stomper. 


On the recommendation of my Rosemary Conley instructor I bought Just Dance 2 in January. This can be used either just as a fun way to exercise with friends or family OR you can set yourself a daily Sweat challenge to complete 1, 3 or 5 dance routines to earn points. What I like about this is that its easy to squeeze in a 15 minute session including warm up. My children love choosing the silliest songs such as Monster Mash or Walk Like an Egyptian.


My daughter had previously had High School Musical 3 Dance but found it quite hard to follow the directions on the screen to copy the moves. It maybe as she gets older she finds this easier. This year she bought Dance Juniors which is much simpler to use and we enjoyed a couple of sessions, though she doesn't ask to play it often.

Fitness Friday: Week 11

Well it wasn't a massive loss this week as only half a pound but its better off than on! Been a very week and its often been a case of grabbing food when I can.. luckily I've obviously done enough exercise to counteract most of the diet...

Diet

There has been not a lot of meal planning happening this week and with very busy schedules I should have been more organised. As my Rosemary Conley instructor says when you are tired, hungry and in a hurry if see something quick and easy to grab from the fridge its easy to let the diet slip. I need to look ahead at the calendar so that I can use the slow cooker or at least leave jacket potatoes in the oven.

Exercise

Almost every day I've done some form of exercise even if it's just on the Wii or some vigorous housework. This is obviously more than enough to use up my calorie intake so that I lost a little weight

The week ahead

Diet

My youngest is off away for the week so should be less hectic and easier to plan menus with my daughter. I got some stir fry veg in my shopping yesterday so that makes for a quick and easy tea one night. With it being Lent there are less naughty things around as we have given up sweets and chocolate as a family.

Exercise

On Sunday I'm taking part in a 3 hour exercise class for charity! If that doesn't kill me then it should help shift some weight.. The Wii exercise programme is still going to be followed plus with no small person around I will have time to walk more.

Click on the logo up top to see how everyone else has been doing.

Fitness Friday - Week 10

Spring must definitely having a good effect on my motivation as when I stepped on the scales at class yesterday I had lost 2 lbs! This is now over 1.5 stone since I began in the Autumn with nearly a stone just since I signed up for Fitness Friday in January. I thought it would a good time to test the Inch Loss side of the Rosemary Conley plan. When I started I was given a magic measure and I dutifully measured all the key body parts and clipped the tags on. Today I remeasured and I have lost a total of 21 inches across my body with an amazing 5 from my waist alone. So what did I do this week:

Diet

The kids went back to school on Monday so it was an end to the non-stop snacking of the holidays. I was able to take my time to choose the healthy options and stick to my calorie allowance. If I have a large lunch I can compensate with a salad only tea.

Exercise

The Wii was turned back on at the weekend and I've done quite a few Tough Just Dance 2 sessions. I also finally got my eBay bargain My Personal Fitness Trainer out of its cellophane and set it up. After about 20 minutes of entering all my measurements it gave me my first targeted workout. So far I've done 2 upper body and 1 lower body workout. I have to admit that the morning after a 30 minute leg workout I found it hard walking upstairs... At my class I was back to the top level of exercise and it feels good to have a vigorous cardio routine.