One small change for February

Instead of New Year's resolutions this year, I have adopted a "One Small Change" per month approach. For February, my small change is tied in with the online Jantastic running challenge I signed up for. The Jantastic personal target for this month was for the number of runs per week and the distance of the longest run. I kept my number of runs a realistic 3 per week but decided to really push myself with the distance target. My one small change for February was to literally "Go the Extra Mile"

I regularly run 3 miles so I decided to set my first week's target at 4 miles. I added half a mile onto this each week, culminating in a respectable 6 miles. On Monday night, I completed the distance challenge.

I have absolutely loved running the longer routes although it has been hard to find the time, the energy (and the babysitters) to enable me to get out and do them. I did most of my runs with my husband, discovering some lovely (slightly soggy) countryside near to our home which was wonderful.

I am hoping that by covering longer distances, my regular 3 mile runs will start to feel easier and I might start to make some improvement in my speed. I have next month's Jantastic challenge to find out if that is the case.

"Going the Extra Mile" - the dream v the reality!

Cool Create Daisy Chains

I do enjoy craft projects and always like having a go at craft kits with the children. At nearly six years old, Addy is now quite capable of reading instructions herself and taking much more of a leading role in working out what's what.

Recently, we tried our hand at making 'Daisy Chains' from a Cool Create set we were sent to review.

The set contains a daisy design storage box for all the little components of the daisies. The lid of the box doubles up as the flower making unit.

It is quite possible to thread the flower parts onto the plastic stems without using the unit at all, but the technique of building the flowers on the unit, adding the stems and pushing the flower up the stem with a pretty little flower picker (which can also be converted into a hair clip) does make the process more interesting.

Once we had assembled a flower on each of the petals of the flower making unit, we were able to 'pick' them as if we were picking real daisies. The system used to link the individual flowers is exactly the same as real daisy chains except for the fact that the spilt on the stem is preformed and it is much less fiddly! The flower making unit is also used for linking the flowers.

There are clips included to turn the chains into jewellery but the chains are a bit flimsy and my daughter was perfectly content simply making longer and longer chains.

My son, never one to miss a chance to to explore the more feminine side of his personality, made daisy chains too. He abandoned it in favour of making 'flower towers' that involved threading all the decorative beads provided onto the flower stems and shouting "FLOWER TOWERS" at the top of his voice. It may not have been the intent of the manufacturer but it is all good for the development of hand eye co-ordination and enabled him to be creative (and loud!) in his own way.

The craft session was all over fairly quickly but for me, the longing for summer days spent lying in the grass and making real daisy chains, will last much longer!

Cool Create website coming soon

The Joy of Cardboard Boxes #zackandquack

Earlier this month, I was lucky enough to be one of the bloggers chosen to host a 'Zack & Quack Craft Party' to coincide with the launch of a brand new kids show on Nick Jr. The Craft Parties were just part of Twitter Extravaganza where everyone was invited to join in and tweet with the #ZackandQuack hashtag.

I received a big box of craft materials and some exciting goody bags for our guests to take home with them.

I love an excuse for a bit of a get-together with other mums and my two little ones were very excited at the thought of having friends over to our house. We sent out our invitations.

For me, a party of any kind is a reason to do some baking. I baked. I also tried my hand at making origami frogs from instructions provided in the party box. It was tricky but I persevered and they made cute little cake labels.

Before the guests arrived, I set up work stations for various craft activities and organised the seating in my living room so everyone could be comfortable for watching the premiere of Zack & Quack. For all the preparation work and during the party, I was tweeting about the event.

— Paula (QWERTY Mum) (@PaulaHaylock) February 7, 2014

The guests began to arrive and excitement levels rose. Before long, everyone was involved in sticking, cutting and generally getting creative. It was lovely to see. We had a couple of exploding glue incidents and glitter glue spread so thickly it would most likely take a month to dry but the children were thoroughly engaged with their tasks.

When the time came for the start of the Zack & Quack show, we got the children seated. There was a welcome change in the noise levels of the party as six pairs of eyes were all transfixed by the images on the screen. A wonderful calm descended as Zack and his duck best friend Quack worked their magic on the spellbound viewers. For me, it was time for a much needed cup of coffee before the final part of the party.

The children were unanimous in their opinion that Zack & Quack was GREAT!!

Our final activity was crafting on a grand scale. The children, hopefully inspired by the show, were invited to use their imaginations to build whatever they wanted as a team from materials provided.

Three of our little guests decided that all they needed to do was jump in a box and exclaim gleefully We made a boat!.

The project became more ambitious when one of our mums let loose her own creativity. The kids loved helping with the transformation and playing with their own cardboard vehicle. The following day, the 'box train' was still the source of much amusement for my children and our visitors (including some old enough to know better!!)

I had some lovely feedback from the party including - Best party ever and the best party bag! 

Watch Zack & Quack Fridays at 4.30pm on Nick Jr.