Reasons to be Cheerful: Festive Fun #R2BC

We have reached that point of the Festive celebrations when you can't remember what day of the week it is! So can I blame that for not posting on the Thursday but waiting until the Friday? Any way it has allowed for an extra bit of festive fun to creep in. I hope that you have all had lots of happy moments to share with our other linkers? Next week hosting goes back to Michelle for January so thank you all for putting up with me in December. Meanwhile here are my festive reasons to be cheerful:
1) Festive parkrun
For the first time since 2014 we actually had our Fell Foot Christmas parkrun. Plenty of Santas, elves, reindeer and other Christmas characters running or walking round the 5 km. I have already posted a link to a video of the event.  

2) Christmas part one

We had an early Christmas meal with my parents to kick start the celebrations. It was lovely to have a properly laid out table with candles and decorations:

After dinner we then played board games and had a chilled out evening.

3) The Last Jedi

Reasons to be Cheerful in the Merry Month of May #R2BC

In case you haven't noticed I have handed the reins back to Michelle for the month! Hopefully there will be lots of back sharing the happiness now Easter is over... Here are my reasons to be cheerful this week:

1) Holiday Homework

My son had one of those homeworks over Easter that requires adult assistance! Turned out it was not only myself but another teacher buddy who got his football stadium going. I then had to turn it into the Ghanian National Football stadium complete with shades for the stands:

2) Seven blipping years

My Blipfoto journal hit the 7 year mark this week which I am extremely proud of! Just a shame I didn't have a chance to celebrate with anything more exciting than our pebble collection:

3) Car Booting

I did back to back car boots this weekend which netted a decent amount of takings and reduced our surplus. These Barbie beauties were left over so I will donate them to my class doll's box as there are never enough to go round!

Reasons to be Cheerful: Happy New Year #R2BC

I have handed the reins back to the lovely Jo at Ojo's World for the month of January and you will be in capable hands! Here are my first reasons to be cheerful for 2016:

1) Furry family

As its winter our guinea pigs have moved into the kitchen to keep warm and dry. This is giving a lot more opportunity for snuggles:

2) Construction

I had lots of fun helping my son build his Christmas Lego and doing my jigsaw. I find being creative like this very fascinating: 

3) Family fun

We have been discovering some old games from our old, old house. They have been in my parents' loft for 5 1/2 years. My children kept beating me at family trivial pursuit!

4) Flowers

I treated myself to these beauties whilst shopping in Aldi:

What is making you smile this week? Please join in!

Friday Review: Christmas gifts from Find Me A Gift

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When Find Me A Gift asked me to pick a couple of their festive gifts to review I knew instantly which one to look at first. The Star Wars Jedi Dressing Gown appealed to my geeky nature. I have to say I intended this for one of the grown up men in my family as its adult sized but my son was off sick the day I opened the box so this is what happened:

He found it perfect for curling up in on the sofa to watch DVDs on his first day off sick:

He is a big Star Wars fan and loved being able to feel like a real Jedi:

Easter Gift Ideas

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I have been sent some lovely ideas for Easter Gifts instead of a too big a pile of chocolate eggs! They would also be nice for birthday presents as well. There is something in this selection for all ages.

Nici - Jolly Sleepy Sheep

My children are big soft toy fans so this was a big hit Mummy can I have the rest of the set? It looks dead cute and it feels really soft. I am sure it would become a big favourite with  small child that would have to be taken every where! The sheep have an RRP of £10.95 for this smallest size (10cm) this seems a lot for a cuddly toy but it does seem to be very well made.

Schleich Baby Bunnies

We love Schleich animals in our house and we are amassing quite a collection so these little bunnies will feel right at home:

As usual they have lovely little details and are good quality. At just over £5 they make a longer lasting Easter egg!

Shoulder Buddies

We first came across these last Easter and my daughter loved hers. She was glad to have a second one to boost her collection:

These have a magic coin to make them sit on your child's shoulder. Again at just under £5 from retailers a great alternative to a chocolate egg! There is a whole series to collect and each has its own unique characteristics.

Sylvanian Sheep Family

My daughter was very pleased to see that we had this new family to add to her collection:

These can be found from £10.99 so a bit more pricey than some of the other gifts but if you have a Sylvanian family fan then they would make a cute addition. These have already gone off for an adventure in the camper van! I love the cute little outfits and my 9 year old has great fun making up stories to go with these toys.

Star Wars Angry Birds

My 6 year old discovered the Star Wars version of Angry Birds at Christmas and loves playing it on my iPad so he was delighted to find Princess Leia in our parcel:

She is rather adorable and my son has had lots of fun throwing her around! This would be a fun present for fans of Star Wars and Angry Birds whether child or grown up. They are available from just under £9 and its part of a series to tie in with the game so you could end up with quite a collection...

Ravensburger Rabbit, Rabbit, Rabbit Jigsaw

This is a puzzle with over 100 cuddly rabbits on the picture:

I started working on this yesterday and found that yes its a bit tricky but the details of each bunny make it not too hard:

My 6 year old sat and helped me for 45 minutes and granny had a go too so its something for all the family. This was the state of play by tea time:

I haven't managed to finish it yet as its on my parents' kitchen table but hopefully between us we will get it done! Like all Ravensburger puzzles it is well made and with an RRP of £7.99 its a reasonable price for something that fills so much time. I will let you know when I've finished it!

52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy and History: Movies

I have decided to try and increase the genealogical content of my blog by joining in with some of the blogging prompts from Genea-Bloggers. This week the 52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy and History prompt is asking us about our memories of movies. 


The first movie I can remember seeing was Star Wars IV: A New Hope when I was about 6 years old. This gave me my first "crush" on Harrison Ford as Han Solo! At home our TV was black and white so our cinema trips were a real treat. I can remember going to see Grease as well. No other movies really stick in mind from this part of my childhood.


When we moved to Beaconsfield in 1980 we had a cinema at the end of our street that was built in 1927. It was a very basic cinema with the ice creams being dispensed during the interval from trays at the front. One of the last films they showed was Clockwise in 1986 as it was superseded by one of the new style cinemas in the neighbouring town of High Wycombe. 


Wycombe 6 had six screens, lots of cinema food outlets including Ben and Jerry's and a neighbouring American themed restaurant next door. My girlfriends and I would regularly have a typical teenagers' night out with pizza and movie. 


We did occasionally visit the smaller 2 screen cinema at Gerrards Cross including a bunch if 17 year olds managing to get in to see Fatal Attraction which had an 18 certificate. This cinema had a hatch in the wall which opened before the film and in any intervals to serve ice creams etc.


I do miss the cosiness of the traditional cinema but have to admit the hi tech films do need to be shown in a modern cinema. As a student in Leeds my boyfriend and I enjoyed sitting in the top balcony of the local art deco cinema and throwing popcorn on people below! My kids only know the multiplex style cinema and it would be great to show them a "real" cinema one day. I have got them hooked on the original Star Wars trilogy though!