Gratitude List and getting creative

Every so often I like to share all the small moments I have been grateful for, I think it's really important to take stock of things in life, slow down and reflect on what one has done and put that perspective. Things have been pretty busy lately and I feel like my balance has been off, work has taken over a little bit too much and when that happens I start to get a little cabin fever from not being outside for a proper dose of fresh air daily. This has mainly been due to the after affects of my MacBook Pro battery exploding and it taking over two weeks to get a replacement, which of course caused a huge backup of work and emails which I am still dealing with now. I know that like most people I can be affect by stress so I always try and slow down regardless of how busy life is because I know I benefit from it, even if it's just a short stroll or a nice hot bath or my favourite pastimes of exploring with the kids and eating good food.  Here is what we have been getting up to lately. 

1. We managed to pop down to the Street Food Festival in Sophia Gardens before it finished for the year. What a fantastic atmosphere with music, games of the kids and loads of good food on offer, especially the Vegan pittas from Milgi and Hazelnut donuts from The Early Bird.

2. We have enjoyed making foraged wholemeal blackberry muffins, you can see the recipe here

3. John and I had a rare day out together at a friends wedding at the beauty Bryngarw House

4. Me and my youngest have been enjoying lots of little outings and mini adventures in and around Cardiff while his older brother is at school.

5. We celebrated my eldest 7th birthday, cannot believe he is 7 and this past month has also seen him lose his first two teeth

6. We enjoyed a fun day out at The Red Dragon Centre playing bowling and trying out this yummy Pistachio Ice-Cream from Cadwalders 

7. One of the highlights of the past two months was our trip to the West End with the kids and stayed at the wonderful Radisson Blu Hampshire Hotel, see our vlog all about our trip

8. We were really excited to get out on the water and do the canoe safari at Llanelli Wetlands, we also spotted loads of different birds, flowers, bugs and butterflies.

9. Another recent highlight was our camping weekend at the Just So Festival near the end of summer, such a special place that really captures the essence of childhood.

We have also had quite a few rainy days of late and I am always looking at fun ways to avoid hours of screen time but it can be quite hard finding crafts that suit the different ages of my two sons. Luckily both are into face panting and we had the chance to review the new Snazaroo Weekend Box. We love Weekend Box as it offers up some really easy and quick crafts and it was nice to see them do something a little different.

This time the box contained two small face painting palettes, one with face painting stamps and the other a lion kit, of course you can do whatever you want with each but my eldest loves cats and lions so this was perfect for him. You have everything you need to get creative including an applicator and brush and Snazaroo are know for being high quality and are less likely to irritate your Childs skin.
If you want to try out a Weekend Box you can get your first one for free using this code LAURA16372 LAURA16372LAURA16372