tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33681031321215679412024-03-14T04:15:57.868+00:00Cold Tea and Smelly Nappies!MOTHERHOOD : THRIFT : LIFE : CRAFT : RANDOMNESSAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16211383944108778601noreply@blogger.comBlogger157125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3368103132121567941.post-48464131490937562552013-06-28T17:27:00.000+01:002013-06-28T17:27:07.319+01:00We've Moved!<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Cold Tea and Smelly Nappies blogspot has now moved to </span></div>
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<a href="http://www.coldteaandsmellynappies.co.uk/"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">www.coldteaandsmellynappies.co.uk</span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">If you have enjoyed the blog so far then please join us at our new home</span>.</div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Thanks </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">xgx</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16211383944108778601noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3368103132121567941.post-71569647045324092142013-06-16T14:23:00.000+01:002013-06-16T14:23:02.106+01:00Silent Sunday<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_GwcOvED1BM/Ub26ioCjQ9I/AAAAAAAACu0/CZIaF6Ngk20/s1600/087.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_GwcOvED1BM/Ub26ioCjQ9I/AAAAAAAACu0/CZIaF6Ngk20/s640/087.JPG" width="338" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://www.cosmicgirlie.com/silent-sunday/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" src="http://www.cosmicgirlie.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Silent-Sunday.jpg" /></a></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16211383944108778601noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3368103132121567941.post-60967175210523644442013-05-26T19:31:00.002+01:002013-05-26T19:31:43.298+01:00Silent Sunday<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="http://www.cosmicgirlie.com/silent-sunday/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" src="http://www.cosmicgirlie.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Silent-Sunday.jpg" /></a></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16211383944108778601noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3368103132121567941.post-16634782522940771682013-05-24T21:12:00.000+01:002013-05-24T21:12:29.027+01:00126 Days, No Shampoo!<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It has been exactly 126 days since I last washed my hair with shampoo. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I started this experiment on a whim, I saw a blog post on the subject of 'no poo' and thought, that could be interesting, I'm gonna give that it a go and here I am 126 days later and I still haven't washed my hair with shampoo!</span><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-E9xt-hJNFXc/UZ-LJVn7WGI/AAAAAAAACnk/00yH8afrFZE/s1600/DSC_0362.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-E9xt-hJNFXc/UZ-LJVn7WGI/AAAAAAAACnk/00yH8afrFZE/s320/DSC_0362.JPG" width="268" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It's been quite difficult really as you have to find an alternative to shampoo that works best with you own hair type. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I started washing with an egg and lemon wash and it was working great. My hair was always lovely and soft afterwards and then about three weeks ago it all went wrong and I have no idea why? After I had used my egg and lemon wash my hair was heavy and almost waxy. It was very odd. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So I decided to start using bicarbonate of soda and apple cyder vinegar instead. That worked really well and I now use that instead. </span><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uhGfgHdOi1c/UZ-QIQLnPdI/AAAAAAAACn4/swAuAW-UxX0/s1600/DSC_0352.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uhGfgHdOi1c/UZ-QIQLnPdI/AAAAAAAACn4/swAuAW-UxX0/s320/DSC_0352.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The only problem with the cyder vinegar is that it smells, a lot! However once your hair is dry there is no smell at all, just don't get it wet again unless you are in your own shower. I took my kiddies swimming last week and forgot about the vinegar and got my hair wet, it was not good, I smelt like a mobile fish and chip van! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So aside from me going into major panic every time it rains and I have no umbrella, the new alternative to shampoo seems to be working well, for now!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Oh and I also finally caved and dyed my hair and yes it was with horrible toxin filled, really bad for you, bottled stuff. I searched for alternative dyes but there doesn't seem to be much out there (if you know of one please let me know) and a lot of products claim to be 'all natural' when in fact they are not, it's confusing!</span> <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The plan was to wait until the sun came out and just put lemon on my hair to bleach it but the sun is still yet to make a proper apperance and I got fed up of waiting.</span> <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I also thought that perhaps the cassia obovata that I have been using might of lightened it a bit. It didn't! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So there you have it my 'no poo' experience so far.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Previous posts on this subject </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> <a href="http://coldteaandsmellynappies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/to-wash-or-not-to-wash.html" target="_blank">To Wash or Not To Wash</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://coldteaandsmellynappies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/goodbye-shampoo.html" target="_blank">Goodbye Shampoo</a> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://coldteaandsmellynappies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/week-two-of-social-suicide.html" target="_blank">Week Two of Social Suicide </a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://coldteaandsmellynappies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/week-three-of-social-suicide.html" target="_blank">Week Three of Social Suicide</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://coldteaandsmellynappies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/week-four-of-social-suicide.html" target="_blank">Week Four of Social Suicide </a></span></div>
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<a href="http://coldteaandsmellynappies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/50-days-and-no-shampoo.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">50 Days and No Shampoo </span></a></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16211383944108778601noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3368103132121567941.post-42315979112962936642013-05-11T12:09:00.003+01:002013-05-11T12:09:51.169+01:00Teaching Your Child To Read<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A while ago now we were sent a reading programme to try out and I thought I'd do an update as to how it's going.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Well it's fantastic, my son can now read some quite long sentances and he is only four! I have tried to make a few videos for you so that you can see for yourselves. They aren't great quality as they were filmed on my phone and there also only 1 minute each. (Sorry I will get better at all this tecnology stuff one day).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So here is the first video... </span><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/kyY8DHHSXbE" width="420"></iframe><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We have been working through the programme every night just before bedtime story and he really enjoys it. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We have been doing it with my daughter too but she doesn't really have a great attention span at the moment (she's only two) although she is definitley picking up bits as we go along. (I will try to get some videos of her, although she is a little camera shy).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I really</span> <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">cannot rate this reading programme highly enough, it has been great for my son and I have no doubt that he will be reading fully by the time he goes to school in September.</span><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/xd-KH-W_EDM" width="420"></iframe><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If you have any questions about the programme I would be happy to answer them.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">You can find the reading programme on their website </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span> <span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.childrenlearningreading.com/"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">www.childrenlearningreading.com</span></a></span></div>
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<img alt="Children Learning Reading Stage 1" height="292" src="http://www.childrenlearningreading.com/images/book-covers/Children-Learning-Reading-Stage-1-Cover.jpg" width="225" /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16211383944108778601noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3368103132121567941.post-15649465188705273762013-03-31T12:59:00.000+01:002013-03-31T12:59:02.665+01:00Happy Easter <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16211383944108778601noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3368103132121567941.post-77028404536129433862013-03-26T10:49:00.000+00:002013-03-26T11:02:29.227+00:00Thrifty Pirate Party<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">For my sons birthday this year we decided to have a pirate theme. He is just slightly obssessed with pirates at the moment thanks to Jake and the Neverland Pirates!</span></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-sraODylK0Ng/UVFr-O0p5XI/AAAAAAAACV0/JhijbHiC1pk/s1600/Table.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="195" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-sraODylK0Ng/UVFr-O0p5XI/AAAAAAAACV0/JhijbHiC1pk/s320/Table.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> As always I hate spending money so I needed to come up with some money saving ideas, as parties can be pretty expensive events these days. Once you've paid for all of the food, decoration, party bags and cake it all adds up. To try and save some money I always aim to make as many of the decorations as I can, like for example the cups...</span></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4-NZ-5u2gzk/UVFr6MUBJyI/AAAAAAAACUc/iZO0RnLXN4E/s1600/Cups.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4-NZ-5u2gzk/UVFr6MUBJyI/AAAAAAAACUc/iZO0RnLXN4E/s320/Cups.jpg" width="212" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I brought a massive pack of Tesco value plain white cups which cost pennies. I then printed off the above image from the web (I cannot find the original source for this, if it's you please shout). I then cut it out and stuck it onto all of the cups. It was quite time consuming but worth it I think. As cups with pre-printed design on can cost you around £2.00 for a pack of 8</span> <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">where as I only paid 55p for a pack of 25!</span> </div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pJkVs3bMdYw/UVFr9_qlIkI/AAAAAAAACVo/3YzjSX9fSDc/s1600/Poison.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pJkVs3bMdYw/UVFr9_qlIkI/AAAAAAAACVo/3YzjSX9fSDc/s320/Poison.jpg" width="112" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> I also stuck some on some old beer bottles that we had lying around ready for recycling, just to add some more decoration to the table.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Like my daughters <a href="http://coldteaandsmellynappies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/enchanted-forest-party.html" target="_blank">Enchanted Forest Party</a> that we had last year I made up name labels for all of the food. This is the fun bit...</span></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vARhl4BHp04/UVFr7aB-9EI/AAAAAAAACUk/GKXp9DQA3b4/s1600/Dead+Mans+Fingers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vARhl4BHp04/UVFr7aB-9EI/AAAAAAAACUk/GKXp9DQA3b4/s320/Dead+Mans+Fingers.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I made</span> <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">the labels myself by printing off images from the web and sticking them all together</span>. <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The little flags I brought online and I believe they cost me about £2 for a pack of 50! </span></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-V4q24e9-Uks/UVFr6cl2-sI/AAAAAAAACUU/A5MF9Y8NjbE/s1600/Cannon+Balls.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-V4q24e9-Uks/UVFr6cl2-sI/AAAAAAAACUU/A5MF9Y8NjbE/s320/Cannon+Balls.jpg" width="250" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I also wanting to get some healthy food in there somewhere...</span><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-T1Yg8JH_XY0/UVFr8qbsppI/AAAAAAAACVQ/movjIV4P4Jg/s1600/Fruity+Booty.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-T1Yg8JH_XY0/UVFr8qbsppI/AAAAAAAACVQ/movjIV4P4Jg/s320/Fruity+Booty.jpg" width="224" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The party food doesn't have to be expensive, if you shop around you can find some great deals. I personally like to use a lot of the value range party foods that you can find in most supermarkets. Kids don't care in the slightest about how much the food cost. Here's the party boy enjoying his value party snowballs...</span></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WmHXeOUpvE8/UVFr8MiQ-TI/AAAAAAAACVM/MnJSLSrL-9s/s1600/Eating.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WmHXeOUpvE8/UVFr8MiQ-TI/AAAAAAAACVM/MnJSLSrL-9s/s320/Eating.jpg" width="220" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I started to worry about finding my son a pirate outfit for the day. Every pirate outfit I found online seemed to cost between £15 - £25 which is way more than I was prepared to spend on an outfit that he would only wear once! Until luck would have it I went into our local charity shop on my weekly recky and came across a pirate outfit and it was only £1...</span></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AYdOBE11kL8/UVFr6R-4K1I/AAAAAAAACUI/f3V5kIaGZ1E/s1600/537824_10151397504472354_1546132790_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AYdOBE11kL8/UVFr6R-4K1I/AAAAAAAACUI/f3V5kIaGZ1E/s320/537824_10151397504472354_1546132790_n.jpg" width="223" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">For the table decorations I was able to use the paper plates that we had left over from my daughters party and make it work with the new theme, from toadstools to pirates. I also brought a few bags of gold coins in advance at Christmas in our local pound shop to scatter across the tables. The gold on the table were rocks from the garden that I spray painted with gold spray, again form the pound shop...</span></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_0KZ4P2kt8w/UVFr8XqNqWI/AAAAAAAACUo/P9aY2dFySag/s1600/Eating+Table.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_0KZ4P2kt8w/UVFr8XqNqWI/AAAAAAAACUo/P9aY2dFySag/s320/Eating+Table.jpg" width="231" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">For the party bags I brought the red and white striped paper bags online at very low cost. I printed the name labels off on my computer and stuck them on. I then just used some string I had at home to tie them off. I thought they turned out pretty good...</span></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uSTEgudCqcU/UVFr9XqH36I/AAAAAAAACVc/aFtsYnemfwM/s1600/Party+Bags.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uSTEgudCqcU/UVFr9XqH36I/AAAAAAAACVc/aFtsYnemfwM/s320/Party+Bags.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So there you have it, a thrifty pirate party. I think everyone enjoyed themselves...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I'm linking up with <a href="http://faithhopeandcharityshopping.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">Faith, Hope and Charity Shopping</a>'s linky <a href="http://faithhopeandcharityshopping.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/ta-dah-tuesday-come-and-link-up.html" target="_blank">Ta Dah Tuesday</a></span><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gjv_l8_Sr2U/UVF__TUx5VI/AAAAAAAACV8/bdLwuILl_k0/s1600/ta+dah+tuesday.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gjv_l8_Sr2U/UVF__TUx5VI/AAAAAAAACV8/bdLwuILl_k0/s1600/ta+dah+tuesday.JPG" /></a></div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16211383944108778601noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3368103132121567941.post-15904776307857095992013-03-22T14:30:00.000+00:002013-03-22T14:30:28.484+00:00Teach a Two Year Old to Read - Update<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I thought I'd do an update on how we are getting on with our '<a href="http://coldteaandsmellynappies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/teaching-two-year-old-to-read.html" target="_blank">Children Learning Reading Programme</a></span>'.<br />
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<a href="http://www.childrenlearningreading.com/" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wN7K_XG9FoM/UUxmsr1tzJI/AAAAAAAACN0/IyN7ommbM_Q/s1600/Children-Learning-Reading-Stage-1-Cover.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We are now 5 weeks into the programme and I feel it is going really well. My son (who's 4) is now able to recognise quite a few different letters and can now read quite a few words completely on his own.</span> <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">(Which I think for a 4 year old is pretty good). We probably would have been further along with the programme if I had stuck to it religiously every day, which I admit I haven't (life gets in the way).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">You are suppose to do each lesson (which don't take more than 5 minutes) at least twice a day, where as we have only being doing it once a day at the moment.</span> <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Even so I feel my son is really starting to get to grips with it now and has finally mastered the art of 'blending'. (You can find out more about this on the website).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My daughter who's 2 can also now recognise quite a few different letters and everywhere we go now all I hear is the two of them shouting out letters whenever they see them on signs.</span></div>
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<a href="http://www.childrenlearningreading.com/" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-m-_5Kbl999I/UUxntPVwn0I/AAAAAAAACOA/jFCUvjMqYYA/s1600/life-time-upgrade.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We are all really enjoying spending time together learning the letters and new words and at this rate I reckon my son will be able to read by the time he goes to school in September!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I will keep you updated with our progress and I will try and post up some videos so you can see for yourselves, (that is if first I can work out how to record it and second how to put it on here!) </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If you like some more information on this reading programme then check out their website...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> <a href="http://www.childrenlearningreading.com/">www.childrenlearningreading.com</a></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16211383944108778601noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3368103132121567941.post-40536835494639373912013-03-18T21:48:00.000+00:002013-03-18T21:48:05.842+00:00Thrifty Finds Of The Week<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This week I have found some great thrifty finds in charity shops and also at a local jumble sale</span>.<br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">First off I found these gorgeous picture frames at a charity shop in Exeter, £3 each</span>...<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-iOr1mYblQUI/UUd8c-k__DI/AAAAAAAACKo/5uwNXrjWjFo/s1600/086.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-iOr1mYblQUI/UUd8c-k__DI/AAAAAAAACKo/5uwNXrjWjFo/s320/086.JPG" width="213" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I brought them with the intention of putting my own pictures of the kids in them but when I got them home I realised that it wasn't very easy to get the pictures out, so I have left them in</span>.<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> I think the original pictures are growing on me though.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I also found this retro pot to go in my kitchen for only £1.00...</span></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_UPRSk5n1ww/UUd8cWnZYQI/AAAAAAAACKg/yQ-B26J0AHo/s1600/085.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_UPRSk5n1ww/UUd8cWnZYQI/AAAAAAAACKg/yQ-B26J0AHo/s320/085.JPG" width="252" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After I had finished raiding the charity shops I headed off to the jumble sale where I got a load of great bargains...</span></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0rlGhXOYu6M/UUd9RFCkqqI/AAAAAAAACKs/DeA3X8OKqeM/s1600/IMG00550-20130303-1354.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0rlGhXOYu6M/UUd9RFCkqqI/AAAAAAAACKs/DeA3X8OKqeM/s320/IMG00550-20130303-1354.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> All the adult clothes were 50p each and the childrens clothes were only 20p! So I stocked up...</span></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dQ6-P7GTtoI/UUd9YbKwbdI/AAAAAAAACKQ/KzWX8nqf9as/s1600/IMG00553-20130303-1355.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dQ6-P7GTtoI/UUd9YbKwbdI/AAAAAAAACKQ/KzWX8nqf9as/s320/IMG00553-20130303-1355.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My favourite item by far was this lovely knit jumper...</span></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-f73wzb2jIAI/UUd9YcQ389I/AAAAAAAACKU/3KdifLHBNlM/s1600/IMG00554-20130303-1355.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-f73wzb2jIAI/UUd9YcQ389I/AAAAAAAACKU/3KdifLHBNlM/s320/IMG00554-20130303-1355.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I also love this vintage style top for my daughter...</span></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-v2RYrS2XD4w/UUd9R5TAlPI/AAAAAAAACKE/CYoZq1JgizU/s1600/IMG00552-20130303-1354.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-v2RYrS2XD4w/UUd9R5TAlPI/AAAAAAAACKE/CYoZq1JgizU/s320/IMG00552-20130303-1354.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> So what about you, found any great bargains this week?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I'm linking up with Magpie Monday over at <a href="http://missielizzie-meandmyshadow.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">Me & My Shadow</a></span></div>
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<a href="http://www.missielizzie-meandmyshadow.blogspot.co.uk/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="Me and My Shadow" border="0" height="110" src="http://i785.photobucket.com/albums/yy135/missielizzie/MagpieMondayBadge.png" width="200" /></a></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16211383944108778601noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3368103132121567941.post-54407753816802881032013-03-14T10:26:00.000+00:002013-03-14T17:38:25.343+00:00WIN a Gorgeous Drop Scarf<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This week on my blog I will be running a fantastic competition to win this gorgeous Anna Nova design grey drop scarf which normally retails at £12.00 on my site <a href="http://www.caroboutique.co.uk/" target="_blank">Caro Boutique </a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>A Great Place To Buy Gorgeous But Affordable Gifts and Accessories</i></span></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3aa-IY1Y-iw/UUGeuLg5dgI/AAAAAAAACIQ/HGljBAO4PQU/s1600/anna+nova+scarf.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3aa-IY1Y-iw/UUGeuLg5dgI/AAAAAAAACIQ/HGljBAO4PQU/s400/anna+nova+scarf.JPG" width="146" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> To be in for a chance to win it simply fill in as many of the options below as you can, the more you fill in the better your chances of winning! Good luck everyone.</span></div>
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<script src="//d12vno17mo87cx.cloudfront.net/embed/rafl/cptr.js"></script><a class="rafl" href="http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/1425a61/" id="rc-1425a61" rel="nofollow">a Rafflecopter giveaway</a><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Competition only open to UK residents, sorry x</span><br />
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<a href="http://www.caroboutique.co.uk/" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="92" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wggLJh3SQu8/UUGkJ8kGguI/AAAAAAAACIk/Beb9J-ltCVU/s320/Banner.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16211383944108778601noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3368103132121567941.post-37550730264223740082013-03-13T21:07:00.000+00:002013-03-13T21:50:28.489+00:00Enchanted Forest Party<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">For my daughters 2nd birthday we had an Enchanted Forest Party and I thought I'd share some of the pictures with you.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The best bit about creating this party was by far the food! </span></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JfmAF0_WFX4/UUDKHgYjA2I/AAAAAAAACGo/mIUEqpRnBmI/s1600/021.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="215" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JfmAF0_WFX4/UUDKHgYjA2I/AAAAAAAACGo/mIUEqpRnBmI/s400/021.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> I had great fun choosing names for all the different dishes...</span></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9OhNG2rH7lk/UUDRzyepWrI/AAAAAAAACHQ/EDMXBucigHs/s1600/072.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="232" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9OhNG2rH7lk/UUDRzyepWrI/AAAAAAAACHQ/EDMXBucigHs/s320/072.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Some of the names included fairy berries (raspberries), squirrel chips (dried bananas) ,birds nests (chocolate krispy cakes) and fairy wands (sticks with chopped fruit on). </span></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vTWz44RBKT0/UUDRy_6P5oI/AAAAAAAACHE/ov3Q7ulghfw/s1600/071.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vTWz44RBKT0/UUDRy_6P5oI/AAAAAAAACHE/ov3Q7ulghfw/s320/071.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I managed to get a good dose of healthy food in there too.</span></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_D0SxRUuiQ8/UUDIFFPH7QI/AAAAAAAACHU/VMKbKSy_YSE/s1600/009.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_D0SxRUuiQ8/UUDIFFPH7QI/AAAAAAAACHU/VMKbKSy_YSE/s320/009.JPG" width="316" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I made a wooden sign to go outside the hall instead of the normal balloons (see how I made this <a href="http://coldteaandsmellynappies.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/enchanted-forest-sign-making.html" target="_blank">here</a>)</span></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kG1vKaVQw_M/UUDStJYhHpI/AAAAAAAACHI/2TUlYrDcGvc/s1600/023.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="154" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kG1vKaVQw_M/UUDStJYhHpI/AAAAAAAACHI/2TUlYrDcGvc/s320/023.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">For the decorations I went with a colour scheme of reds, whites, greens and browns. We put up our green gazebo in the hall and hung green crepe paper streamers from it...</span></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-C3AawOCvdMo/UUDIIFub6RI/AAAAAAAACGw/cd1dUgIxvrQ/s1600/011.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="234" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-C3AawOCvdMo/UUDIIFub6RI/AAAAAAAACGw/cd1dUgIxvrQ/s320/011.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> I also made some mini toadstools to scatter around the room and on the tables. (See how I made these <a href="http://coldteaandsmellynappies.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/making-mini-toadstools.html" target="_blank">here</a>) </span></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OxnEWkADLbc/UUDT5fzWyaI/AAAAAAAACG8/K8MPD6w4Gaw/s1600/021.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OxnEWkADLbc/UUDT5fzWyaI/AAAAAAAACG8/K8MPD6w4Gaw/s320/021.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> For my daughters outfit I managed to find her a green fairy outfit in a charity shop which only cost me £3.00, bargain and I made her a flowery crown...</span></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-g0N2jmGTas4/UUDTOw3uPlI/AAAAAAAACHM/R8cf2JD2Hfg/s1600/010.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="310" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-g0N2jmGTas4/UUDTOw3uPlI/AAAAAAAACHM/R8cf2JD2Hfg/s320/010.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Following with the enchanted forest theme I didn't want to go with traditional party bags instead I made my own from old jam jars...</span></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PNDuIDjlUjA/UUDZtYjYqGI/AAAAAAAACG0/9WGq0D7urEs/s1600/074.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="197" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PNDuIDjlUjA/UUDZtYjYqGI/AAAAAAAACG0/9WGq0D7urEs/s320/074.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In all it was a great party and I think everyone enjoyed themselves although I'm not sure Lowenna really knew what was going on...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Linking up with Ta-dah Tuesday on <a href="http://faithhopeandcharityshopping.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">Faith Hope and Charity Shopping</a></span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16211383944108778601noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3368103132121567941.post-15939111550318325152013-03-12T16:23:00.002+00:002013-03-12T16:25:10.377+00:0010 Tips for Surviving the School Holidays<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1) PLAN, PLAN, PLAN - You don't have to follow your plan to the letter but even if you have a rough idea of what you might do each day helps!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">2) ARRANGE MEET UPS - with fellow mummies, preferably somewhere that the kiddies can run wild for a bit while you have a good natter</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">3) EXCEPT MESS - Unless you are prepared to spend the next few weeks constantly picking up after them, just let them get on with it an have a good tidy up when they go back to school</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">4) PUT ON THE TV - Yes I said the T word, obviously I don't mean for the entire holidays but even just once a day for a limited amount of time gives you a break and makes them just sit and chill for a bit. We all need some R&R time and maybe throw in some popcorn to make it a bit more exciting. (I wouldn't advise popcorn everyday though)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">5) GO FOR WALKS - Of course this is weather permitting but it's a great way for the kids to burn some energy, get some fresh air and best of all it's FREE. Or perhaps try a <a href="http://www.treasuretrails.co.uk/" target="_blank">treasure trail</a> which makes the walk more interesting!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">6) RESEARCH NEW CRAFT IDEAS - Get online and find some new ideas for things to create, bake or build. There are loads of good websites out there that have loads of fun ideas. <a href="http://pinterest.com/loveablelevi/things-i-want-to-make/" target="_blank">Pinterest</a> is one of my favourites.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">7) STOCK UP ON CRAFT SUPPLIES - Prior to the holidays beginning make sure you have all of the resources that you may need, glue, scissors, toilet rolls, coloured card etc. Start collecting up a stock a few weeks before.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">8) GET A COLLECTION OF BOARD GAMES - Time to raid the charity shops and find some new games. You can pick up some great ones for a fraction of the price that the high street stores sell them at. This is always good as a back up for the horrible rainy days.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">9) VISIT YOUR LOCAL LIBRARY - Go and find some new books to read. You could have a theme for the week, like the Tudors, and then find books on your chosen subject and see who can learn the most by the end of the week. Maybe create a quiz for the end of the week and see who wins. Libraries also stock DVD's which you can hire for very low cost too.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">10) DON'T FEAR BOREDOM - It is okay for your children to get bored, this forces them to use their own imagination and create fun for themselves. No one expects you to be super mum for the entire length of the holidays. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So what about you? What are your top tips for surviving the school holidays? </span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16211383944108778601noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3368103132121567941.post-45109929327270757192013-03-07T11:46:00.000+00:002013-03-07T12:08:20.524+00:0050 Days and NO shampoo!<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It has been exactly 50 days since I last washed my hair (with shampoo)! It has been a very interesting journey so far and I've had my good and bad days. The whole thing is a learning process and you have to find what works for your hair type and what definitely doesn't! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Today I'd say is a bad day.</span> <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I washed my hair last night with bicarbonate of soda and conditioned it with cyder vinegar</span> <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">and this is what it looked like this morning...</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="345" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6HHUOnRjTu4/UTh1Pufiq8I/AAAAAAAACBU/EUCdtEVkNQo/s400/no+shampoo.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Please excuse the serious lack of make up and ghostly pale skin, I feel rather rough today!</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">To me my hair looks greasy but still frizzy and just generally looks grim. I have decided that there could be three possible reasons for this... </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1) I feel ill and think I have a some kind of infection as I have lost my voice so perhaps this is</span> <span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">having an effect on my hair?</span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">2) I didn't use the right amount of bicarbonate of soda when I washed it. I was running low so perhaps I didn't use enough?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">3) I haven't eaten very healthy food this week. I read somewhere that what you eat has a big effect on your hair. Too much greasy food this week I think!</span></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_45_h-MwWuc/UTh4eoSFSGI/AAAAAAAACBs/s9Tok6p5Fqs/s1600/no+shampoo2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_45_h-MwWuc/UTh4eoSFSGI/AAAAAAAACBs/s9Tok6p5Fqs/s400/no+shampoo2.JPG" width="266" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I feel I have kind of lost my way with this process and I'm currently not seeing a huge improvement or any particular benefits to it. Don't get me wrong I won't be going back to using shampoo, I just don't know if I'm doing the whole 'no poo' thing right! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I'm currently washing my hair once a week with either my egg wash or bicarbonate of soda and I'm definitely preferring the egg wash (it feels softer afterwards). I have about three days where I can wear my hair down and then I have to tie it up for the remaining days because it looks oily. It's hard to brush the oils through my hair because it's curly and the minute you put a brush near it, it puffs up into a mass of frizziness! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />I'm not using any products at all at on it at the moment and I desperately want to dye it because the roots are looking hideous but I don't want to undo all of the hard work of not putting gunk on it! There must be an alternative, natural, solution for dying hair out there??</span></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-S7eHf2qEmgE/UTh70-jAe9I/AAAAAAAACCA/_WsNVpckoso/s1600/no+shampoo3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-S7eHf2qEmgE/UTh70-jAe9I/AAAAAAAACCA/_WsNVpckoso/s320/no+shampoo3.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">However I shall persevere with my 'no poo' adventure and hopefully I will see an improvement soon. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I'd love to hear from anyone else that has under gone this process and if anyone has any suggestions as to what I may be doing wrong.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Check out my other posts on my 'no poo' adventure...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> <a href="http://coldteaandsmellynappies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/to-wash-or-not-to-wash.html" target="_blank">To Wash or Not To Wash</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://coldteaandsmellynappies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/goodbye-shampoo.html" target="_blank">Goodbye Shampoo</a> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://coldteaandsmellynappies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/week-two-of-social-suicide.html" target="_blank">Week Two of Social Suicide </a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://coldteaandsmellynappies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/week-three-of-social-suicide.html" target="_blank">Week Three of Social Suicide</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://coldteaandsmellynappies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/week-four-of-social-suicide.html" target="_blank">Week Four of Social Suicide </a> </span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16211383944108778601noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3368103132121567941.post-39316234369350433322013-03-05T09:00:00.000+00:002013-03-05T09:00:29.663+00:00Fighting a Losing Battle<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">One of the main problems with depression is that it never really goes away. No matter what the experts say, no matter how much CBT training or counselling you have, it is always there, somewhere in the background</span>!</div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I refuse to take medication for it, probably not the best idea I've ever had but I just think it's un-natural to pump our bodies full of medication all the time. I also swear that the medication changes people, they become very detached from the world and un-naturally dosile. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Over the years I have tried many different methods for managing depression and none of them have really worked but I do now have a sort of system that seems to work quite well. </span></div>
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<br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It is quite simply a weekly routine. Everyday we have at least one thing to go to or do. Like today, Tuesday, we go to one toddler group in the morning that starts at 10am, so I have to get up, get dressed and get out of the house. Now to anyone that has never suffered with depression this wouldn't seem like a big deal, but to someone that does suffer sometimes just managing to get out of bed in the morning is a massive achivement! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Then this afternoon we have another group to go to. It helps to split the day up so you know that you don't have a whole day at home with two little ones that will inevitably get bored and start playing up. It helps me to know we have stuff to do and places to go, it helps to put me in the right frame of mind for the day.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So on days like today, when I feel tired, achey and just general rough it helps me to drag my behind out of bed and forces me to get on with it even though all I want to do is curl up in a ball in my bed and never get out again. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">What about you then, do you have a coping mechanism? Or are you one of the lucky ones that has never suffered with it? </span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16211383944108778601noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3368103132121567941.post-14351157637435758712013-03-04T15:01:00.000+00:002013-03-04T15:02:15.535+00:00Personalised Reward Charts<br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.personalisedrewardcharts.co.uk/" target="_blank"><img alt="Personalised Reward Charts" src="http://image.personalisedrewardcharts.co.uk/data/logo.jpg" title="Personalised Reward Charts" /></a> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> Today we were sent a very cute, personalised, potty training reward chart for my daughter.</span></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AbayhBhxpSI/UTSxoFqpodI/AAAAAAAAB-w/KfYd8h8H-es/s1600/reward+chrat.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AbayhBhxpSI/UTSxoFqpodI/AAAAAAAAB-w/KfYd8h8H-es/s400/reward+chrat.JPG" width="400" /> </a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There are loads of different styles to chose from on the website such as </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">dogs, pirates, ponies and football. You can also chose</span> different themes such as potty training and brushing teeth. </span></div>
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<a href="http://image.personalisedrewardcharts.co.uk/cache/data/pony-blank-250x250.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Pony Blank" border="0" src="http://image.personalisedrewardcharts.co.uk/cache/data/pony-blank-250x250.jpg" title="Pony Blank" /></a><a href="http://image.personalisedrewardcharts.co.uk/cache/data/teeth-days-photo-pink-250x250.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Brush Teeth Pink Photo" border="0" src="http://image.personalisedrewardcharts.co.uk/cache/data/teeth-days-photo-pink-250x250.jpg" title="Brush Teeth Pink Photo" /></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><img alt="Seaside Task with Days Photo" src="http://image.personalisedrewardcharts.co.uk/cache/data/Sea-Task-Days-Photo-250x250.jpg" title="Seaside Task with Days Photo" /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><img alt="Pirate Task" src="http://image.personalisedrewardcharts.co.uk/cache/data/pirate-task-250x250.jpg" title="Pirate Task" /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">They are great value at only £3.00 each and come with stickers and a pen.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We went for the potty training one as we are about to go through this stage again! (Something I'm not looking forward to!)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As you can see from the picture my daughter was very impressed with hers and hopefully this might just make the process of potty training a little smoother.</span></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qm5A7ojHhxk/UTSz8hTFKmI/AAAAAAAAB_A/VHIEbMbQv_g/s1600/reward+chrat2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qm5A7ojHhxk/UTSz8hTFKmI/AAAAAAAAB_A/VHIEbMbQv_g/s400/reward+chrat2.JPG" width="315" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Wish us luck!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">To check out all of the other designs and themes head over to </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"></span><a href="http://www.personalisedrewardcharts.co.uk/"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">www.personalisedrewardcharts.co.uk</span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">This company is run by </span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">a Work At Home dad who runs a couple of small businesses making products aimed at children and their parents.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Check out his other sites below</span></span></div>
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<a href="http://www.personaliseddoorsigns.co.uk/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span></a></div>
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<a href="http://www.personaliseddoorsigns.co.uk/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">www.personaliseddoorsigns.co.uk</span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.personalisedcarsigns.co.uk/">www.personalisedcarsigns.co.uk</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span> </span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16211383944108778601noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3368103132121567941.post-30259801965718357602013-03-01T13:44:00.001+00:002013-03-04T20:06:29.668+00:00The Joys Of Charity Shopping<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I had a very weird day on Wednesday! It was my first morning all on my own in about 4 and a half years. My baby went to pre-school</span>. </div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I didn't really know what to do with my self and I thought I'd just go home and catch up on 4 and a half years of housework, that just never gets done and then I thought I have devoted all that time to my children taking them to toddler groups, sign and rhyme classes or whatever the latest craze is at that time. So I'm going to spend the morning doing something that I want to do and something that I just can't do with two little ones in tow. Raid the charity shops!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I love charity shopping. I get a real buzz when I walk into a shop, not knowing what treasures you will find inside</span>. <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I then I get an even bigger buzz when you find a real bargain. I hardly ever buy new anymore, I just find new products boring in comparison, they have no history and no story.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Sometimes you don't find anything in any of the shops and then you have days when every single shop you go into has something that you simple must have. This day was one of those days.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Here's a few bits I found that I was really pleased with...</span></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nHiIf7D9tF4/UTCuLfviSHI/AAAAAAAABxU/U4zF8O8usEk/s1600/charity+shop+6.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nHiIf7D9tF4/UTCuLfviSHI/AAAAAAAABxU/U4zF8O8usEk/s320/charity+shop+6.JPG" width="213" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">These two Moroccan lanterns were £3.99 for the pair!</span></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wJDvFUu948Q/UTCuLVYVPSI/AAAAAAAABxc/-sI1u1nZFR4/s1600/charity+shop+5.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wJDvFUu948Q/UTCuLVYVPSI/AAAAAAAABxc/-sI1u1nZFR4/s320/charity+shop+5.JPG" width="213" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">and these two, his and hers, crochet blankets were just £2 each.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The kids love them and it's really cute when they are all snuggled up on their chair together with their blankets.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So what about you are you a charity shopper or does the idea of buying second hand goods just not appeal to you? </span></div>
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<a href="http://www.missielizzie-meandmyshadow.blogspot.co.uk/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="Me and My Shadow" border="0" height="110" src="http://i785.photobucket.com/albums/yy135/missielizzie/MagpieMondayBadge.png" width="200" /></a></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16211383944108778601noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3368103132121567941.post-20695275268022610422013-02-12T09:48:00.001+00:002013-02-12T09:48:34.545+00:00The Mad Blog Awards<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's that time of year again...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">...yes I'm talking about the Mad Blog Awards</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I think every Mummy and Daddy blogger out there is thinking about it, posting about it and tweeting about it. So I thought I'd follow suit.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Last year when the Mad Blogs was on I was still a newbie blogger. Still blissfully unaware at quite how addictive blogging can become and spending most of my time either telling everyone that would listen that I just got a new comment on my blog, logging into blogger every 5 minutes to check my page views for that day or googling 'how to get more traffic to your blog'!</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now a year and a bit later and I'm just starting to feel like I'm getting my head around it all, what with all the tweeting, tagging, linking, memes and comments. There are still things that I just can't get my head around but I'll get there one day I'm sure.</span></div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So if you haven't already voted and you are going to then I'd just like to say that I would love some nominations for either one or (</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">if you are feeling the love)</span> both of my blogs . I know it's a big ask as there are so many, much better, blogs out there but if you find yourself with a space in a category then feel free to put me in. It really would make my <strike>day</strike> year!</span></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-COijF0YHbOg/URoLiWSHfBI/AAAAAAAABb4/NTT0MUXbba0/s1600/badge2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-COijF0YHbOg/URoLiWSHfBI/AAAAAAAABb4/NTT0MUXbba0/s1600/badge2.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> If you would like to vote or just find out more info about the Mad Blog Awards then click <a href="http://www.the-mads.com/" target="_blank">here</a>.</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16211383944108778601noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3368103132121567941.post-10366545890640053652013-02-11T11:57:00.001+00:002013-02-11T11:57:04.536+00:00Teaching a Two Year Old to Read!<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am very excited this morning!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We have been sent a new product to review and I generally can't wait to get started with it. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>'Teach your child to read, and help your child become a fast a fluent reader!'</i></span></div>
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<a href="http://www.childrenlearningreading.com/" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tXKRBaeOXFE/URjXB9bDUkI/AAAAAAAABZk/vPHwHMO5VPE/s200/Children-Learning-Reading-Stage-1-Cover.jpg" width="154" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i> </i> It's called the Children Learning Reading Program</span>. <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now I know what your thinking, Oh God not another 'teach your child to read product', but this one looks different.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The programme has been created by a family that have three children of their own. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you check out the videos on their website then you can see their daughter at the age of 2 years 11 months reading and then another video of her reading at a grade 3 by the time she was just 4 years and 2 months! There's no tricks in the video, she is generally able to read that well through learning with this programme that her parents have created.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you still don't believe me then check out their website <a href="http://www.childrenlearningreading.com/" target="_blank">here</a> and see for yourself.</span></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-v1kZzq7fpUY/URjXkavl88I/AAAAAAAABZ0/khXntiGMLnI/s1600/Children-Learning-Reading-Stage-2-Cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-v1kZzq7fpUY/URjXkavl88I/AAAAAAAABZ0/khXntiGMLnI/s200/Children-Learning-Reading-Stage-2-Cover.jpg" width="156" /></a></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">'The Children Learning Reading <sup>TM</sup> program comes in two
jam-packed e-books presenting a simple, logical, step-by-step, and
extremely effective system for teaching your child to read quickly,
effectively, and fluently without watching television or sitting in
front of the computer. </span></i></div>
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</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The program is instantly downloadable, and contain
a total of 50 step-by-step, super simple, yet amazingly effective
lessons that will show you how to easily teach your child to read
spending just 10 to 15 minutes each day. Whether your child is 2 years
old, 3 years old, 4 years old, in pre-school, kindergarten, or in early
grade school, our system of learning to read will help your child become
a fast and fluent reader'. </span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">We have started the programme this morning with both our 2 year old and our 4 year old. I will keep you updated with our progress and maybe even throw in a video or two (if I can work out how to do that). As I said already I am generally very excited about using this product and can't wait to see the results. Wish us luck x</span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">' <span style="color: red;"><strong><span class="heading-1-red">If You've Had Enough of All the
Other Hyped "Quick Fix Programs" that Promise Easy Results - Programs
that Sit Your Child In Front of the TV and Computer for Hours Upon
Hours, That Have Failed You and Your Child in the Past, and You Are
Ready to Teach Your Child to Read the RIGHT Way, Then This is the Honest
and Truly Effective Learning to Read Solution You've Been Searching For'</span></strong></span></span></i></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_OgXFx0MGts/URjZEDc_9MI/AAAAAAAABaA/1l5-LJ7lPvw/s1600/guarantee-seal.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="147" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_OgXFx0MGts/URjZEDc_9MI/AAAAAAAABaA/1l5-LJ7lPvw/s200/guarantee-seal.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: red;"><strong><span class="heading-1-red"> </span></strong></span>60 Day - NO RISK, UNCONDITIONAL MONEY BACK, SATISFACTION GURANTEE</span></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xO1u5xNfo2E/URjaPfOMBZI/AAAAAAAABas/gkfqPouGB2U/s1600/life-time-upgrade.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="243" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xO1u5xNfo2E/URjaPfOMBZI/AAAAAAAABas/gkfqPouGB2U/s320/life-time-upgrade.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.childrenlearningreading.com/"><span style="font-size: large;">www.childrenlearningreading.com</span></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16211383944108778601noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3368103132121567941.post-14089904952663487712013-02-07T10:55:00.000+00:002013-02-07T10:55:09.561+00:00Week Four of Social Suicide<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I have become obsessed with hair! I find my self staring at other peoples heads, thinking 'ooo their hair is so soft and shiny and looks so clean'</span>.<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> When I'm washing the kids hair in the bath I have to restrain myself from dunking my head in a swishing it around in the lovely sweet smelling strawberry stuff.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I'm now in week four of my '<a href="http://coldteaandsmellynappies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/to-wash-or-not-to-wash.html" target="_blank">no poo</a>' adventure and I'm starting to think that I should just be like 'normal' people and wash it with shampoo.</span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I'm really not liking the once a week wash with just water, it just goes what I can only describe as waxy, here have a look...</span></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--wSHXUjEcjQ/UROC2tKLZTI/AAAAAAAABPg/J-ybFNB1MY8/s1600/004.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--wSHXUjEcjQ/UROC2tKLZTI/AAAAAAAABPg/J-ybFNB1MY8/s320/004.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I can't wear it down after a water wash, it just looks hideous!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I last washed my hair on Friday (6 days ago) with an <a href="http://coldteaandsmellynappies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/goodbye-shampoo.html" target="_blank">egg and lemon wash</a>. After this wash my hair did feel quite nice and clean but still not the same result as if I had used shampoo. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I think my main problem is that it's gone so dark, it's neither blonde nor brown at the moment, just a kinda of greyish/brown colour! I thought that the <a href="http://coldteaandsmellynappies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/week-two-of-social-suicide.html" target="_blank">cassia obovata</a> that I used a few weeks ago would help to lighten it a bit but it just seemed to make it a darker but richer colour.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Anyway this is what my hair is looking like today ... </span></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WgnfPXXWGjU/UROGM0teiNI/AAAAAAAABRY/CC9m6p2DYCs/s1600/last+shampoo.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WgnfPXXWGjU/UROGM0teiNI/AAAAAAAABRY/CC9m6p2DYCs/s320/last+shampoo.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Saying all that though I am starting to notice a difference this week. As I said I last washed it 6 days ago and it's only just starting to go greasy today. So that's a major improvement. I've also been able to wear my hair down all week, which I haven't done since starting my 'no poo' experiment.</span> <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So maybe it's not all bad.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I have also noticed that my dandruff has pretty much gone now, which is awesome.</span></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Ugp7y7KdtPY/UROE2Md6LyI/AAAAAAAABQU/rrdGxM3gGEQ/s1600/007.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Ugp7y7KdtPY/UROE2Md6LyI/AAAAAAAABQU/rrdGxM3gGEQ/s320/007.JPG" width="213" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> The next step that I plan to take is to try washing with bicarbonate of soda and condition with cyder vinegar. I'm want to try this just to see if it gives a better result than the egg and lemon wash. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I'm slightly concerned about using the bicarbonate of soda incase it dries out my scalp but we'll see I suppose.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I'll let you know how that works out. </span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16211383944108778601noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3368103132121567941.post-67836848610511805822013-01-30T17:14:00.000+00:002013-01-30T17:14:17.880+00:00Week Three of Social Suicide<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So it has been 2 weeks today since I last washed my hair with shampoo! To find out why click <a href="http://coldteaandsmellynappies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/to-wash-or-not-to-wash.html" target="_blank">here</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The alternatives that I have used so far are an <a href="http://coldteaandsmellynappies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/goodbye-shampoo.html" target="_blank">egg and lemon wash</a>, <a href="http://coldteaandsmellynappies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/week-two-of-social-suicide.html" target="_blank">Cassia Obovata</a> and just good old water. </span></div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I was suppose to take a picture of my hair after the cassia obovata wash but I forgot. I know I'm useless (can I still blame it on baby brain even though my youngest is two?!)</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Anyway I used the cassia obovata on Friday and it's now Wednesday and this is what my hair is looking like now...</span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-BySgTTW6uDE/UQlSMv7cwrI/AAAAAAAABNQ/hzOZ2Z0XFKM/s1600/002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-BySgTTW6uDE/UQlSMv7cwrI/AAAAAAAABNQ/hzOZ2Z0XFKM/s320/002.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It's not green yey</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> The cassia obovata was really weird to use, it's thick like clay and you have to kind of layer it onto your head as if you are icing a cake. It also smells a little funky!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I made up my paste with the cassia obviata powder and water and then caked my head in the lot. I then covered my head with a shower cap and left it on for 1 hour. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After an hour I rinsed it off (as best I could, that stuff is stubborn) and then just left my hair to dry naturally.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Personally I thought my hair looked awful, it felt like straw and smelt odd and I wasn't sure I had used it properly. However I went out for dinner the next evening and I got a lot of compliments about my hair (Mainly that it look full of volume) and I must say that it did curl really well afterwards. So perhaps it wasn't too bad after all.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I'll be using it again in 6 weeks so just have to wait and see what happens next time. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Today, 5 days after using the cassia obovata, my hair looks very greasy but it still has lots of volume and feels a lot thicker than normal? (probably not helped by the fact that I haven't brushed it all week, I know lazy girl!) I also swear that it has changed colour a bit, it's darker but brighter if that makes sense. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I'm going to wash my hair tonight with just water (don't really want to use the egg and lemon wash as I don't know how that would react with any cassia obovata left on my head). While washing it I'll also give it a good massage to get the oils moving around and see what it looks like tomorrow.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I'll keep you posted (if I remember lol) x </span></div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16211383944108778601noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3368103132121567941.post-46482489347473340662013-01-27T19:32:00.002+00:002013-01-27T19:32:29.378+00:00Silent Sunday<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16211383944108778601noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3368103132121567941.post-3189078653195512512013-01-25T17:34:00.000+00:002013-01-25T17:34:23.940+00:00Week Two of Social Suicide<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So it has been 9 days since I last washed my hair with shampoo! (If you want to know why anyone would be mad enough to stop using shampoo then click <a href="http://coldteaandsmellynappies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/goodbye-shampoo.html" target="_blank">here</a>).</span></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xLdog4-U8R8/UQK9rcyBDPI/AAAAAAAABKw/2Sl93BX9xmo/s1600/035.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xLdog4-U8R8/UQK9rcyBDPI/AAAAAAAABKw/2Sl93BX9xmo/s320/035.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And as you can see from the photo, it's starting to look greasy and very flat. It won't curl at the moment and the roots are stuck to my head and the ends are still frizzy!! In short I look and feel rather gross. My skin has also erupted in spots (lovely) but that's not unusual for my skin so it could just be a coincidence.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Instead of shampoo so far I have used an egg and lemon mixture (which was lovely and my hair felt really soft afterwards) and just water, while massaging my head to move the oils around.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I last washed my hair with just water 3 days ago and it looks pretty greasy today. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Tonight I'm going to try my Cassia Obovata powder as we are going out for dinner tomorrow night and I really don't want to go out with a greasy mop! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I'm slightly concerned about doing this as apparently sometimes it can make your hair turn green!! Lets hope that doesn't happen.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I'll put up another post tomorrow showing you how it turned out, wish me luck.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">All I'm thinking right now is this better be worth it!! </span></div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16211383944108778601noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3368103132121567941.post-70313877750583810152013-01-20T17:03:00.000+00:002013-01-20T17:29:31.946+00:00Silent Sunday<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16211383944108778601noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3368103132121567941.post-70508262427644237812013-01-18T20:08:00.000+00:002013-01-18T20:16:40.312+00:00Goodbye Shampoo<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I have decided to stop using shampoo completely. No more shampoo, no more conditioner and no more hair products. (You can read about how I got the idea <a href="http://coldteaandsmellynappies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/to-wash-or-not-to-wash.html" target="_blank">here)</a>.</span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Yes I know, I have obviously lost a marble or two but I am going into this with an open mind. I might not stand the test of time but I'm going to give it a go. I mean how hard can it be right *said with a nervous quiver in my voice*.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I thought it would be interesting to log my process or lack of it on here. So I'll start with today. </span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Day one of social suicide </span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I last washed my hair with the 'proper' sweet smelling toxin filled bottled stuff on Wednesday morning. So by today (friday) it was starting to look a little like it could do with a scrub. (I should mention here that my hair is damaged almost beyond repair through years of abuse with dyes/hair products/straighteners etc).</span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I thought I would try a natural wash today and see how I got on (I can see that this is going to be a game of trial and error)</span>. </div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">This is what I used...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">3 eggs (yes you read that right eggs)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">and the juice from half a lemon</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Whisk it all up and it's ready to go. I wet my hair and towel dried it, I then applied the mixture to my head and really rubbed it into my scalp. Leaving the mixture on I then wrapped my head in a towel and left it for about 15 minutes or so. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">When I felt that I'd had it on for long enough I then rinsed it with cool water. Apparently if you use hot water you can end up with a kind of <a href="http://lulastic.co.uk/thrifty-2/misadventures-in-being-shampoo-free/" target="_blank">scrambled egg</a> type disaster (best to avoid that, not quite the look I'm going for).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">and volia </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">(appologies in advance for the rubbish photos It's harder than it looks to take pictures of your own hair)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">It worked really well and my hair felt lovely and soft. Still very frizzy but hopefully that will improve in time.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The next step now (I think) is to leave it until it starts to look like it needs a wash</span> <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">and then wash it with just water. Next spend at least 5 minutes massaging my scalp to move the natural oils around. (I'm not feeling confident at all with this step but I'll give it a go).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The overall aim is to wash with water and massage once a week. Then use some form of natural wash (like eggs or bicarbonate of soda)</span> <span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">once every two weeks and finally every six weeks using <a href="http://www.hennaforhair.com/faq/cassiaobovata.html" target="_blank">cassia obovata</a> to give it a good deep cleanse and condition.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So far all is well but we'll see how it goes next time.</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16211383944108778601noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3368103132121567941.post-19007328930766097952013-01-17T14:54:00.001+00:002013-01-17T14:54:12.964+00:00To wash or not to wash?<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/w610guy/2566232322/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Shampoos by W610 Guy, on Flickr"><img alt="Shampoos" height="240" src="http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3069/2566232322_137398df4a.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/w610guy/2566232322/" target="_blank">W610 Guy</a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">These days we willing pollute our bodies with so many toxins. There in our food, our beauty products and our homes</span>.<br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Today I found a post on a fantastic blog <a href="http://lulastic.co.uk/" target="_blank">Lulastic & the Hippyshake.</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><a href="http://lulastic.co.uk/thrifty-2/a-year-without-shampoo-faqs-answered-honestly/" target="_blank">'A Year Without Shampoo'</a> and now I want to try it but I'm scared. It's quite a commitment and I'm rubbish at that. I have a habit of starting things with the best of intention but never following them through! (I get bored too easily and have no staying power)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I have had a nightmare with my hair recently, I think too many years of dying it have finally taken it's toll. It now won't dye at all! The hair is so damaged that the dye doesn't take and it's just a dry mass of frizzyness. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/hoosadork/2401539227/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Frizzy hair by hoosadork, on Flickr"><img alt="Frizzy hair" height="240" src="http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2232/2401539227_0b075ecc7d_m.jpg" width="160" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/hoosadork/2401539227/" target="_blank">Chrissy Hunt</a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I love the idea of not putting any more rubbish products on it and getting it back to it's old healthy self but it's just taking the plunge. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Should I , shouldn't I, I just don't know. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Perhaps I should attempt it and see how I get on I. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I could see how long I last.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I must be mad. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I can always wash it if I can't cope.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Okay, I've convinced myself, I'll give it a go.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Wish me luck x</span>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16211383944108778601noreply@blogger.com0