HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!

Hello again lovely readers of mine,

Here in the U.K today is Mothers day/ Mothering Sunday.. whatever you want to call it. It is a day for Mothering kind to be celebrated, by their offspring and other halves. 

I also find it is my chance as a daughter to really appreciate all the little things my mime (mum) did for me and my older brother Adam growing up. Until you become an adult you don't understand your mothers reasoning behind half of what she did to you as first an unruly toddler and then an unruly teenager, but you are coming to terms with the fact that it was all for your own good. Until you become a mother,this  is only when you realise she did it all for her own sanity aswell as ours.

I always feel as a mother I don't sacrifice alot, I still see my friends, and wear clothes I want and do my make up and hair. To me I have it all, but when I think of my mother as I was a child I realise she didn't have it all, she sacrificed it all, so that we could. This blog is a bit rambly, but it's really just my way of thanking my mother for everything she did for us growing up.

I understand you, I'm proud of you, and I love you. 
My mother and my bestfriend! 

Happy Mothers day to all Mothering Kind! Be you a Granny, or a StepMum. Happy Mother's day to you :) 


I have been thoroughly spoilt this year by my beans, and have the New Hunger Games film; Catching Fire on DVD. 2potted plants that the girls decorated for me at school, and a big bunch of flowers, and here in the U.K the sun is shining. What a perfect mothers day! 

I hope you enjoyed reading, and if your a mommy yourself... HAPPY MOTHERS DAY! 
Until next time lovely blogger folk,
'The Average Mum' x

Temper tantrums in Public? The bane of every mothers life.

Hello again lovely blogger people! 

Todays blog is about the one thing every mother to a toddler dreads. The public temper tantrum; the judgemental eyes, tuts and comments directed at you from other people.

I believe there are three types of parent in this world, the laid back type, the shouty type, and the I patient yet about to snap type. None of these three are bad. And I would most definitely say I am the third. My girls can push me quite a bit when we're out and I find some form of inner calm to contend with two tantrumming toddlers. But doesn't mean I don't lose my cool....

For example...last monday after I picked the twins up from a morning of Pre-School, I decided to take them for a walk to the shop and treat them to some sweets, I also needed washing up liquid and the pots were driving me mad! I REALLY had to go to the shop. Now I know the girls were tired, but what child doesn't perk up at the idea of chocchoc? My children, that's what!

Within seconds of us getting into Tesco Express they were off on one, and a box of crunchies were whacked across the shop floor by a very grumpy Emilie. At this point I was thinking okay that's fine, they just won't have a treat. Let's get the washing up liquid and get home. So I bent down to pick these chocolate bars up and then realised I had a slight problem... I am not Ganesha the elephant god, and I do not have four arms to control; two children on reigns, hold two Peppa Pig lunch boxes, my large mum bag and the twins school bag. All whilst trying to pick chocolate up. Somehow the God of Mothers was on my side and I managed to get these chocolate bars back on the shelf, but just as I placed these ones back an impatient Lucie decided she was going to knock another box off! AHHH. I could have cried. So I was flapping by this point, I really just wanted to get out of the shop.

So many people were staring and I felt like the worlds worst parent. Especially when this lady dolled up to the nines, with her one perfect child walking nicely next to her (there is always one, don't even deny it) strolled over with her perfectly drawn on eyebrows and said 'Can you cope?' I was pretty close to losing my shit by this point, so I just looked at her and said thankyou. Grabbed my children and we left the shop. 

But by leaving with no Kinder eggs, this led to another temper tantrum half way across the road, and they both decided to pull their favourite party trick, and lie down in the road. On the highstreet! KILL ME NOW. Rather than allow my children to be mown down by some chav bazzing into Tesco carpark in their modified Corsa, I grabbed their reigns and carried them off the road and frog marched them up the highstreet, for about three feet until they did it again, outside of the pub. Oooh how I wished at that moment that I drank! A nice straight pint of Vodka would have gone down perfectly. 

Eventually after much persuasion the twins decided to get up and walk again, but they kept on throwing their lunch boxes on the floor, after a few rounds of mommy picking them up and saying 'If you chuck them on the floor they will stay there' I really did leave them there. The twins weren't best pleased and cried for their lunch boxes all the way home. We went back down to get them later, and they were finally reunited. 

Ever since then when we have been for a walk, the twins have been good as gold. Sometimes with our children we really do have to stop being so lenient and ignore the feelings of guilt that wash over us, and teach them a lesson. If we don't how will they ever learn to be well behaved in public? How do you react to the public temper tantrum? Are you a 1,2, or 3 parent?

I really hope you enjoyed reading this weeks mummy blog! Please feel free to +1, comment or share!

Until next time, 

'The Average Mum' x

Family days out in Derbyshire...

Hello again lovely readers of mine! I hope you're all well.  
Today's blog is about 'Derbyshire' and all the beautiful places in and around. Also where is best in Derbyshire to take your children on days out, that are educational, yet fun.  

I have lived in Derbyshire for my whole life, although the Village where we know live is technically Leicestershire, but if I went to the next Village I would be in Derbyshire! It's a funny old world. There is no place else I would rather raise a family. It is so beautiful here, and enriched in amazing history! We are literally fifteen minutes away from where Henry VII took the crown from Richard IIII at the 'Battle of Bosworth' and we went to school next to the relics of 'Ashby Castle', now most people don't get fascinated by this, but I do! 

My first favourite place in Derbyshire is called 'Staunton Harold' it has a huge boating lake, a lovely childrens play park overlooking the water, surrounded by gorgeous country sides, there is even a trail that leads you to either 'Staunton Hall' or to 'Calke Abbey' in the neighbouring village of Calke, next to a stunning little Village called Ticknall. It really is like something out of a Jane Austen film. The play park is pretty awesome and has a big roundabout on that my other dislocated her shoulder pushing about ten of us as children round on it! Bless her heart, it's never been right since! There really is something here to cater to all ages. The only thing you have to pay for is parking!
www.stauntonharold.co.uk

As mentioned above another lovely little day out in Derbyshire is 'Calke Abbey' it's part of the national trust now, so it is very well maintained and opened seasonally. The house is open for a full tour, including the old servants tunnels that run under the house and garden! Do be prepared for a rather large collection of 'stuffed animals' not really my thing, but you might have a Grandad or rather eccentric Uncle perhaps who would find this interesting ;)! If you're part of the national trust entrance is of course free, if not it's only a small sum per person. And small children go free. - Entrance to the house is excluded.  Outside the house features an old Chapel, and some of the most well maintained Gardens in all of the County. If you are going to visit any of these places I implore you to visit here! 
http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/calke-abbey/

If you've ever heard of 'Conkers!' and thought what the hell is that and where is Moira? It's smack bang in the middle of The Midlands. Conkers is brilliant, and super educational. As I child I loved to visit Conkers! With my Mother, older Brother and Cousins. It had just opened when I was about ten or eleven. I'm iffy on the actual age, but since then it has expanded greatly; they have an indoor adventure playground, a discovery park, cafe, gift shops. Then continued outside the fun keeps on going with tree walks, an assault course with huge apparatus to clamber up. A beautiful lake surrounded by secluded little picnic areas, a train (which is free once you pay to get in) to take you to a childrens play park and a smaller discovery centre. 
http://www.visitconkers.com/

There are hundreds of other places to go in Derbyshire but I decided to stop after my favourite 3, as I didn't want to bore anyone too much! As always, I really hope you have enjoyed the blog and that you find it in some way useful! And if you didn't want to come to Derbyshire for a day visit before, I should think you want too now! Click those links! ;)

Thankyou for reading, until next time lovely blogger people! 
'The Average Mum' x

Twin beans and fun Mum things!

Hello again lovely blogger people, 

I was shocked this week when I was scrolling through my blogs and realised I hadn't written a mummyblog in quite a while! So I thought I would treat you all :) 

Now I know some of my readers are American, so do comment telling me how the weather has been for you recently.

In the U.K the winter blankets have been packed away, and a quater of the population have already began to don their summer dresses and shorts. The moment the sun shone in our skies, I was planning trips out. We have had four sunny weekends so far and have done something involving the great outdoors and generally wearing the kids out, on each and everyone of them.

On home days we have jumped on our trampoline without fear of the galeforce winds blowing the children into the fields behind our house; Living in a rural area at the top of a hill is sometimes the bane of my life. We get the worst of all the weather. We've done alot of painting, baking, reading and playing with playdough over the wintertime and I have finally began to plan some brilliant outdoorsy activities for when things get a bit warmer.

What do other Mummies like to do with their little ones in the sunshine? Our back garden is like a bloody field, so we don't really have to go anywhere to have fun outside. One thing I remember doing as a child, that I used to love was chalking on the pavements of the Cul-De-Sac I lived on. It was such great fun, and our parents used to love having the artwork covering every inch of pavement on the street! So I have of course already invested in some chunky pavement chalks. I think it's a great way to let the children get their creativity out without destroying our houses in the meantime! 

Another fun-in-the-sun activity I have planned is filling up the paddling pool with water and the kind of plastic balls you would find in a ball pit, the children absolutely love it. And on a hot day there is nothing better than whacking them in a pool for ten minutes to cool down. Don't literally whack your children into a pool though please, I hear that's highly frowned upon. ;) 

I saved my favourite outdoorsy activity for last, and that is Picnics! I bloody love a good Picnic. Do you know the good thing about Summer? EVERYDAY IS A PICNIC. Literally, in my house. We eat our lunches and sometimes even dinners on a blanket in our garden, and we love it.  This year we are contemplating buying some Garden furniture, but I am frugal and the grass is comfy. So why bother?  

I am so excited for our family holiday this year, the twins are still too young to be taken on plane or go abroad so we're saving that for when they get older. For now we are sticking to Great Yarmouth in Norfolk which is lovely, and has everything you could need for a nice British Holiday! If you have never been I recommend it, and Cambridge is a stop along the way too. Which is a lovely detour from your journey, it's very educational, yet beautiful at the same time. As you can tell I am really ridiculously excited to have a lovely summer with my family, and I hope everyone else is too! 

On that life changing note, I bid you adieu! I hope you all enjoyed reading this blog, and please let me know what you and your little monsters will be upto during the Great British Summer! As always, thankyou for reading and take care!

Until next time lovely blogger folk, 

'The Average Mum'. x

Pretty In Pastels.

Hello again everyone! 
I really hope you all enjoyed my spring makeup trend tutorial! 
Today's blog is again spring based but this time we are heading more towards the fashion side of spring. I admit I am not the biggest fashionista in the blog world. But I do love all things pretty, and creating my own sense of style. I like to look sophisticated and grown up. Of course I don converse and skinny fit jeans occasionally. 

Now, unless you have been living under a rock for the last three, maybe four springs and summer times then you should have some pastels floating about your summer wardrobe ready to be rocked throughout the Great British Summer. If not don't fear, down below will be some budget Pastel bargains! I know I have a few from last year, and I was so glad when I saw nude/pink pastels were back in again this Season. 

All pastels are of course in season, but I LOVELOVELOVE pink pastels. I think they are so feminine and just perfect for spring. My favourite outfit at the moment, is my pastel pink blouse, tucked into highwaisted jeans and worn with a pair of flat black pumps. Simple, yet sophisticated! Less is more ladies, less is more.

I'm also quite inclined to like the 'Pastel on Pastel' trend that is being rocked by a few celebrities at the moment. I invested in some new pastel tee's from New Look a few weeks back, two for £12. Bargain! *Link will be blow as always!* and I cannot wait to rock them with my purple pastel skinnies that I got in the sale at River Island last summer for a tenner! Primark are currently bringing back in their pastel range so if you have one near to you, I highly recommend popping in for a mooch. Unfortunately I cannot link them as they do not have a site :( this makes me sad.

I've also became quite interested in Pastels in the home. If like mine, your house is cosy (NOT small, cosy ;) ) then pastels can really work well to bring colour into a room but not wash it out or darken it up. I like to change my decor up for Winter and Summer. In the Winter I like cosy blankets and cushions. In the Summer I like my house to seem light and airy. A nice escape from the beating sun. & adding in some pastels is a lovely way to do that. A few simple to pack away accessories means you won't be bored of your home decor and feel the need to redecorate! Don't be afraid to switch it up a bit. 

 I wanted to talk about Two of my biggest style Icons; Tanya Burr and Sam Chapman (from PixiWoo) they both have a beautiful and demure dress sense, that isn't at all bland or boring. Just ladylike and sophisticated.  I cannot wait to see what Outfit of the days they begin to post as the weather gets warmer and I will definitely be doing a blog post about where we can recreate their looks for half the price! 

As always thankyou for reading! I hope you enjoyed this blog! 
Until next time lovely blogger folk. 
'The Average Mum' x

Spring Eye makeup trend 2014. Use what you have!

Hey lovely blogger people      

    I hope you're all well, and if you live in England I do hope you're enjoying the sunshine!

Today's blog is my first tutorial of sorts. One of the main reasons I started blogging was to find cheaper ways to maintain a high-end make-up look. So I like to check out what's in fashion from season to season.

 One of my favourite trends for spring 2014 is neutral eyes, with black liner and a cut-crease. The best thing about this look is you can use any bronzer and highlighter duo's! 

I used 'Barbara Day -Cheek to Cheek Powder Blusher, in Nude' you can buy this from any Tescos for about five pounds it is lovely and an old bronzer from Clairs! I'm not sure if they still sell it, I got it yonks ago! 

My gel eyeliner is from 'Maybelline Eye Studio Lasting Drama, Gel Eyeliner  - 01Black' and you can get it from boots or any drugstore! It's £8.00 and the mascara I used is also 'Maybelline The Mega Plush Volum' Express Mascara - Very Black/ Noir'

• I started out by priming my eyes using a tiny bit of concealer, on the end on my ring finger blended over and under my lids.
• Using an eyeshadow brush and the highlighter side of my blusher, I went all over my eyelids to create a light pink base.
• I then used my bronzer to cut straight through the crease of my eyeshadow, *use a small CLEAN blending brush*
• Shape your eyeshadow however you like it, I tend to stick to my eyeshape for daytime wear as it does look a little less full on!
• Using my 'Real Techniques Pixel Point Eyeliner brush' and a gel eyeliner. I did a standard cat-eye with a small flick at the ends. 
• Then I go back to my blusher again with the highlighter and put some right on the inner corners of my eyes, to really highlight them. 
• I then finished this look off with a couple of coats of mascara!

To make this more of a 'Going Out' look, you could use a dark brown eyeshadow on a accent brush and blend this over the outer-corner of your eyes on the movable lid, and up into the crease with the bronzer. A pair of nice false eyelashes will set this off nicely. 

I also like to wear a nice peachy blusher when I wear this look as I think it really sets it off, and is lovely for spring! It's a more natural looking finish at this time of year than a Bronzer. As unless you live in America, or are addicted to sunbeds or fakebake nobody is actually that tanned! 

Thankyou for reading this weeks blog, and I hope you enjoyed my first tutorial! Please feel free to +1 and comment! I would really appreciate if you did! 
Until next time lovely blogger folk, take care. 
'The Average Mum' x

It's a little bit like Spring!

Enjoying the sun in Stapenhill Gardens. 

If you live in the U.K, in the last couple of weeks

you will have a definitely felt a distinct change in the weather! I.E; The bright thing that blinds you... THE SUN is actually out! Hurrah, after quite a dreary winter, we are finally coming into Spring and it is beautiful!

Me and my lovely other-half Matt decided to make the most of the lovely sunshine and take our baby beans to feed the ducks!  Although there were only two ducks I think in the whole River! But quite a few Swans and Geese. Now I'm not sure about you, but I actually find Swans to be quite menacing. I don't know why but they just freak me out! 

Apparently though, my children are not as freaked out by Swans as their mother. They were pretty adamant that they really did want to ram bread into a Swans beak. There was not a cat in hell's chance that I was going to let them do that. The Swan would have had their fingers! A & E on a Saturday is not my idea of fun, so after much persuasion the twins finally decided to back away from the menacing swans! 

We then carried on to feed them half a loaf of bread, only to realise it is actually frowned upon to feed ducks bread. As they become addicted to starchy foods! Who knew!? The twins loved it, so maybe next time we go we'll go to a pet shop first and get some proper duck pellets? If they exist. 

I really love the area that we took the girls too, it really is one of the most random spots in the world. A beautiful river like this, and right behind a big bridge leading into a town centre, and to my right there was a Tesco's! It's always baffled me a little bit. The need of the Modern-Day English man to ruin our heritage and build and build and build.  But apart from that if you live in Derbyshire, or you are in that area.. I recommend taking little ones here, as you can go for a lovely walk, and they have a secluded play area!  Stapenhill Gardens, is in Burton-Upon-Trent. It was originally Stapenhill Halls gardens that the house backed onto, and then onto the River. But the house was demolished with Gardens remaining. It Is really well maintained and in the summer they have beautiful flower arrangements on the bank running down to the River! Best of all it is free, and parking is too! (IF you can find a spot) 

The twins had a lovely afternoon enjoying the first proper sunshine of the year! I really hope everyone else had a brilliant weekend too! As always let me know if you do go here, I would love to read other peoples opinions on it. *No rude comments! 

Until next time, lovely blogger folk! Thank you for reading and please feel free to +1 and comment! :) 

'The Average Mum.' x

**Budget Skincare Product Review**

Simple. 

Today's product review is another budget beauty bargain! I was so happy to stumble upon this on my supermarket shelves. I had ran out of cleanser recently, and was in need of a new one. But I don't like to part with a lot of my money so when I finally found one that was a reasonable price, as usual I just had to share!  I also thought that seeing as I seem to have a running streak of blogs with self-explanatory titles, that this one shall not fail you!So the name of the product is 'Simple', and I'm sure a lot of you will have heard of this. It is available quite widely and you can get it online! *Link; http://www.simple.co.uk/ *

 Simple boast about being 'The Sensitive skin experts'  and I have quite sensitive skin, so naturally I thought I would put their very reasonably priced products to the test! 

I purchased two products, and both were only Three pounds each! So me and Simple were already off to a pretty good start, with my bank account also nodding in agreement. 

The two products I brought were:

'Kind To Skin, Purifying Cleansing Lotion'

and the...

'Kind To Eyes, Soothing Eye balm' 

So far, I have only used these products a couple of times. But I love them! They are designed to be worn under, and after you remove your make-up. Cleansing your skin in the morning and at night is vital. Making sure you remove all of the left-over make-up in your pores that your make-up remover might not pull out is the reason we cleanse at night, and to wash away sweat and grit that gathers on the skin through-out day. 

We then cleanse in the morning, to wipe away dead skin cells and sweat that can gather whilst sleeping. Some peoples skin can become really dehydrated over night,

  ( *moisturising after cleansing can help, your pores will be open so will drink up any hydration. Yes, your skin gets thirsty!) 

I really love love love the 'Kind to eyes, soothing eye balm' again this product can be worn under or after you have removed your make-up. 

The minute you put this on, you feel your eyes tighten under-neath as they begin to drink in the serum. It doesn't leave a sticky residue after on your face, which I love.

 The product just sinks into your skin, leaving under your eyes tight and bright! 

I hope that if you do read this, and decide to buy these that you love them just as much as I do! Thankyou for reading the blog and sorry it's been a while since my last post! I've been really busy recently, but I have been buying and testing more products so I have alot of reviews and some 'homemade.. D.I.Y.' beauty projects coming up!

 So **WATCH THIS SPACE**

Please, comment, +1 and add me on google+! 

Until next time lovely blogger folk! 

'The Average Mum' xx