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Simplified Mum Life

Nina A Spencer – Motherhood Mentor – Simplifying the every day for busy overwhelmed mums -Mum Of Twins Twice! Placenta Accreta Survivor, Mental Health Champion, On my own simple living Journey filled with adventure and travel . Embracing The Imperfectly, Chaotic moments of motherhood.
#StayHome Lockdown

Festival Vibes At Home Inspiration and ideas for your own at home festival

*This ‘Festival Vibes AT Home Inspiration and ideas for your own at home festival post contains affiliate links which help in the upkeep of my blog and feed my ever growing kids!*

The festival season is upon us except there are no actual festivals happening due to the current pandemic. There are however several music events and camping festivals happening online. But how can we get those Festival Vibes At Home?

Festival at home

Festival Vibes At Home Inspiration and ideas for your own at home festival

Decorations to get that festival vibe

Decorating your space ready for your stay at home festival can really create that happy atmosphere and get you in the mood for your festival. There are many ways to decorate your space including:

  • Bunting
  • Banners
  • Pom Pom’s
  • Tassels
  • Flower garland
  • Lights
  • Bubble Machine.
  • Flower lettering
  • And more..

To add to the festival feeling I even made some wristbands just like you would get at a festival. I used canva to create them and then printed and laminated them so we could keep them afterwards in a scrapbook!

Music

You cant have a festival without having a playlist loaded up and ready to go. We often use Spotify to create playlists for our events and parties.

There are many festival playlists already on Spotify but we have an eclectic mix of music tastes so we created our own. Its your festival so make it your own ask the kids for input too they will love picking songs for you all to dance to!

Activities

Activities could be as simple as having a kitchen disco to a full on weekend camping set up in the garden. Here are some ideas for some inspiration.

  • Camp in the garden Put up the tent grab a few blankets and create a festival little retreat on your lawn.
  • Fire Pit S’mores / Toasted marshmallows – Is there anything better than sitting out toasting marshmallows on the fire pit or BBQ?
  • Midnight Movies – Grab yourself a white sheet or screen and a portable projector and create a little outdoor movie theatre to enjoy some classic movies after sundown.
  • Hot Tub Glow Stick party – Wait until the sun goes down and through a few glow sticks in the hot tub or pool. My kids really enjoyed this. we put some chilled out music on too to create a fun activity for them.
  • Flower Crowns – This is such a nice activity to do. grab a cheap bunch of flowers or pick some of your own form you garden. Add some florist tape and wire. then you can just tape your flowers to your crown. So Simple looks amazing for your festival at home event though.
  • Kitchen Disco – We invited our friends to join us for a kitchen disco via zoom. we all picked a few tracks each for our play list and we danced together in our kitchens together yet apart. It was one of the best nights. Of course you don’t have to invite anyone else if you don’t want to be sure to get dressed up for your disco you could even add some sparkle to your outfit by adding some face glitter.

Food

Festival at home food doesn’t have to be all about dirty burgers and cheesy fries though they are a great place to start.

Camp breakfast- Bacon sandwich, campfire breakfast casserole , Pancakes.

Camp Lunch – Picnics, bbq,

Dinner – BBQ, Hotdogs, Pasties, Pizza,

Snacks – S’mores, Tuckshop sweets, Popcorn (For Movie nights),

light up sign saying festival vibes
Girl drinking from a wine glass festival with a festival outfit on
8 year old girl staring at a toasted marshmallow outside with blue sky behind her
mum and daughters all wearing flower crowns
two girls with flower crowns on

Online Festival

There have been a bunch of online festivals popping up during the pandemic with activities such as camp outs, craft lessons, talks, concerts and more. If you do a little search online (Youtube/ facebook) I bet you could find some things you could incorporate into your festival at home.

Festival Vibes At Home

I hope this has given you a little bit of inspiration for your mini at home festival. If you dont already follow us on Instagram I would love you to pop over and say hello. I am on there every day with our daily adventures.

Nina x

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#StayHome Lockdown

7 Weeks of (Home)School Left!? Goals & Plans & May Updates

So today the lockdown has been eased a little bit. We can now head to our friends or families gardens as long as there is no more than 6 people. We are already a family of 6 so it looks like we aren’t going to be meeting up with anyone anytime soon. More than that though I’m not sure Im even ready to head out and socialise just yet. I mean I know life has got to return soon but lets wait until the daily numbers are at least down to double figures rather than the treble figures they are now.

We have been taking advantage of being allowed to head out for the day though. We have had some great walks and picnics in and around our local area. Is now the time to head further afield? The seaside maybe?

This is our goals and plans right up to the Summer School Holidays.

Goals & Plans June / July 2020

Home School

  • School Sent work We will be continuing to work through Maths and Phonics that school send through as its just one less thing that I have to think about creating.
  • Puffin Festival Of Dreams – 8th -14th June – We will be taking part in this festival by joining in with the competitions and watching the live streams and videos on their social sites. I think it’s so good to mix up how we learn just to keep our learning fun. Not just for the kids but for me too.
  • Mathletics – We have let mathletics slip for the past couple of weeks but hopefully we can get back on top of it this Half term.
  • Reading – I will be trying to get the kids to read on their own in an afternoon and to me just before bed.

Health, Fitness & Movement

Last month I failed to commit to my these goals but I can feel my mental health slipping back so Its going to be important to pick up some Movement again thats just for me. So I will be aiming for:

  • 3 x 20 min walks a week – On my own.
  • 2 online fitness classes a week – either yoga, pilates or zumba.
  • Cut back on junk!! I have to stop reaching for the easy options and the snacks at nap-time/ Bedtime. I had got into better eating habits at one point cutting right back on snacks. But lately Ive been reaching for the sugar, chocolate, caffeine yet again.

Home

Yeh Last month I was positive I could get back into a routine to keep the house in some kind of order. It’s not too bad however It does feel like a constant battle to keep up with keeping everywhere clean and tidy.

So Back to the drawing board and I will try to get back into creating my Household binder.

I also want to work a bit more on our finances. Create a budget, and save a little for a rainy day.

Work

It’s so hard to find the time and energy that I need to concentrate on work. I do a little and I have a few plans in mind for my blog & Vlogging that I want to do but for now concentrating on surviving with the kids home is my priority.

having said that I do have some work obligations.
As businesses start to open i have a little bit in the social media manager side of my work to get done. I already run a couple of things for different people and have offered bits of advise here and there So i need to get back to running their social media calendars for the next few month.

Other Adventures

Last months adventures were amazing. We had VE day and an epic festival at home. We also had a few adventures out and about. We have started Geocaching again and the kids have been loving it.

June and July have a few birthdays we would like to celebrate in one way or another. Firstly its my Mums and chris’ dads at the end of June I mean fingers crossed we may be able to celebrate together but I think we will still be social distancing by then. I think maybe we may have to have a birthday dinner with a difference.

Then It’s my Big 40 at the end of the summer term. We normally use my birthday as an excuse to have a big BBQ party in our garden. This year being my 40th I had wanted a Christmas in July Birthday party. We love Christmas. I am hoping this could be our first proper gathering so finger crossed.

I have been thinking about having a bit of a Disney at home day. I’m not sure how this will go down but I think we need a little bit of magic. I have been looking at vlogs for ideas Watch this space.

I would like to have a bit of a celebration to mark the end of the school year. Things have not been easy and not at all like I had hoped for the kids school year but that’s why I think it is important to celebrate how much we have achieved.

Will we also get chance to get some vitamin sea before the summer holidays hit? We are allowed to travel for leisure now restrictions have been eased but I also want to respect the people who live by the sea. I want to respect social distancing and it seems hoards of people are flocking to the beach. However the seaside is my happy place. The sea air. the sand in my toes. Even without the donuts and fish n chips the seaside seems to pull me in!

#StayHome Lockdown

Every Clouds have a silver lining

We have been in lockdown now for just over 6 weeks. In that time it has been a rollercoaster of emotions. Hasn’t it? Over the time I have been trying to keep on top of my wellbeing by creating a routine, making plans, getting some me time once in a while and by writing a gratitude journal.

Writing a Gratitude journal really helps my mind. Just thinking about all the things I am grateful for in my day is a real boost. I have seen such a big shift in my mental health from doing this simple thing each day.

I knew when Emma (Emma and 3) Tagged me in the silver linings post I had to join in.

Unlike Emma I have in the past often overlooked the positive side of life especially when testing times hit home. However Over the past couple of years Since having our second set of twins I have really appreciated more in the every day.

Silver Linings

  1. Online Events – I love attending events, learning new things, gaining knowledge of a subjects that I am passionate about. I usually have to rely on my Mum to have the kids when i head out to these events. As we are all staying home the amount of online events have really increased loads and its great to be able to attend these while Im doing the ironing or while sat in the hot tub.
  2. Games – We have found a love of playing games before bed. I bought Uno from amazon last week and its given us some really good moments to bond as a family. Putting down our screens and focusing on each other.
  3. Daddy’s Home – We have never had so much time together. Chris (Spencer’s ARC Daddy) has been working form home since February. It has been great having him home to help during bedtime hour and at meal times. Its great for the kids to have some time to connect with him again.
  4. Learning – We dipped our toes into home education a while ago but we ended up heading back to school as it just felt too stressful. Right now though although sometimes still stressful its been good to sit with the big kids and learn their school work with them. Ive never been that great at maths. I mean I get by but Ive really learnt different ways to work things out.
  5. Simple Slow Living – I’ve have been wanting a slower, more simple pace of life for ages now. I believe living more simply really helps with a positive wellbeing. With nowhere to rush to and no deadlines there is no other way to live at the moment.

Can you find some sliver linings to how lockdown life looks for you?

I am tagging anyone who wants to join in.

Either leave your silver linings in the comments or link in your own blog post.

Lets get sharing the things we are grateful for.

Nina x

#StayHome Lockdown

May Goals & Plans (Lockdown Edition)

Hi all,

How are we all doing? I mean it’s May and we have been in lockdown for over a month now. We are not even sure how much longer this is going to go on for either. Days go by and they feel like groundhog day but then some days go by and we have the most fun. Memories are made. Memories that will hopefully last our children’s lifetime.

This month I want to get back into some kind of normality. Maybe even a new normality, as getting back to what our old normal was seems so far away, if we ever even get there at all.

With that in mind I want to create some goals and plans for the month ahead.

Making plans are what keep me going. Its kind of my therapy . As holiday planning is on hold for the moment planning our weeks and days is what is getting me by.

May Plans & Goals

Homeschooling

It’s no secret that I am struggling a little with homeschooling the big twins while trying to entertain the little two. However with the support of the school teachers we are managing a little, enough to keep their brains active. enough to keep them occupied.

  • Homeschool days Monday – Friday 9am – 11.30
  • Continue maths, literacy and one other subject on school days All work sent from school.
  • Reading in an afternoon.
  • Mathletics – Maths extra work on computer while dinner is cooking.
  • During May Half term Activities to keep brain active but less structured than school work.

Health, Fitness & Movement

I have recently using the exercise time we have been allowed to head out for a walk around our local area. Its been great for my head and getting me moving again.

  • At least 4, 20 min walks a week.
  • Eating less junk. I have been doing pretty well with this until the easter eggs came out last month but while ‘nipping to the shop’ at any given opportunity isn’t an option and the easter eggs have all gone i think I can get back on to eating less junk again.
  • I would like to try and pick up a fitness class once a week. maybe zumba or something to to add to my fitness levels. i have seen a few happening on facebook live and using zoom.

Home

Years and years ago after following countless blogs I made up my own household binder to help me keep on top of things that needed doing in the house and in our life.

Fast forward a few years and add 4 kids to the mix and our house often looks like we’ve been burgled. SO I plan this month to remake a house hold binder make sure I have a weekly and daily routine to tidy and clean each room. once this routine is in place I am going to work on decluttering some more areas of our home.

Im putting it out there that I am feeling positive this is totally doable even with the kids at home! Because positive vibes right!!

Work

In january I attended a vision board workshop with the lovely girls from Escape & Create. It was such a great process. A great way to focus on goals for the year. It really did make me feel more positive for opportunities to come my way. Which for a while they did. but then you know covid happened. This month I want to get back to making my goals a reality and set up some new ones to fit with our current reality.

3 themes I would like to focus on this month are

  • Developing on ‘My Why’
  • Helping small businesses get back up and running
  • Creating a new vision board for my career and business

I will expand on these in future blog posts so if you are interested make sure you follow the blog.

Other Adventures

VE Day – May the 8th is the country’s bank holiday for the 75th anniversary of VE day. Obviously we cant have big communal events like was planned at the beginning of the year however we are being encouraged to participate in our own events at home. So we are planning one having a party in our drive to celebrate.

Holiday At Home – Last month we had a road trip at home as we should have been on our road trip in europe during the easter holidays this month is May half term so I am going to try and plan something similar to give the kids some adventure during the the week.

Hopefully lockdown may ease a little during the end of the month and we can head out a little more. I’m not talking anything extravagant but driving to the woods or the local river for a walk and to feed the ducks would be a great adventure for us all after being safe at home for all this time.

One other thing I want to work on this month is fundraising for the Sheffield hospitals trust and The Jessop wing. I have a plan in mind as the annual super hero walk has been cancelled. head to instagram and click follow if you don’t already where I will announce my plans once finalised.

I hope this gives you a little bit of inspiration to plan your month ahead. even though we are all staying safe at home still we can still make the best of the situation we can still find time to work on out#r business a little even if that means working at midnight. If we have the passion to make our business work we will find a way to make it work.

Nina x

Health & Fitness

“I’ll be there for you Cause you’re there for me too”

I’ve never been very good making friends, however I have picked up a few along the way.

IMG_6433

I have friends now and they are the most valuable group of friends I’ve ever had.
There are friends that I met in school and although we don’t talk or see each other every day I know they are there and they know I am here if we need each other.
There are friends I made after school the ones I made through work the ones that helped me in tough times and have seen me at my worst but yet still let me be a part of their lives.
There are friends I’ve really only just met but yet have been through so much together, I hope we will be friends for a very long time to come.
There are friends that I’ve not yet met or maybe I’ve already met but we just don’t know we are friends yet (this has happened in the past)
And there is one friend who I’ve known most of my life and who I’m now married to.IMG_6772
Friendships aren’t always easy. There are tough times. There are times when you are close to hating each other.
But friendships are so important.
Here are my top 5 of friendship
1. Tough times – I’ve been through some unpleasant times (Anxiety, depression, grief, jealousy.) My friends have listened, hugged, cried with me, and brought me tissues and flowers to cheer me up.
2. Good times – You remember that time when….. Those times when I’ve laughed so hard I’ve cried.
3. Confidence – Some of the friends I have and have had made me feel like I could do anything. They have given me the confidence to try new things, to go to new places and to be the person I want to be.
4. Advice – As parents sometimes we struggle with day-to-day I often turn to my friends for help when I’m struggling with something.
5. Be there. – Friendship also means I am there for my friends when they need me. I don’t judge don’t mock and can also be there with the tissues and hugs and flowers if need be!  I can also make copious amounts of tea.

I have lost friends along the way too. Sometimes it’s for the best. Sometimes we have friends that can be harmful to our self-esteem.

I know there are going to be more tough times in our lives, that’s life but I have friends now who I can turn to in those times and who can make the good times great so the bad times don’t seem so bad.

Thank you to all of my friends for joining me in my life and letting me into theirs.

Nina x

Where to next?