The Joys Of Charity Shopping

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.

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!

I love charity shopping. I get a real buzz when I walk into a shop, not knowing what treasures you will find inside. 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.

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.

Here's a few bits I found that I was really pleased with...

 These two Moroccan lanterns were £3.99 for the pair!

 and these two, his and hers, crochet blankets were just £2 each.

The kids love them and it's really cute when they are all snuggled up on their chair together with their blankets.

So what about you are you a charity shopper or does the idea of buying second hand goods just not appeal to you?

The Mad Blog Awards

It's that time of year again...

...yes I'm talking about the Mad Blog Awards

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.

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'!

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.

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 (if you are feeling the love) 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 day year!

 

 If you would like to vote or just find out more info about the Mad Blog Awards then click here.

Teaching a Two Year Old to Read!

I am very excited this morning!
We have been sent a new product to review and I generally can't wait to get started with it. 

'Teach your child to read, and help your child become a fast a fluent reader!'

  It's called the Children Learning Reading Program. Now I know what your thinking, Oh God not another 'teach your child to read product', but this one looks different.

The programme has been created by a family that have three children of their own. 

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.

If you still don't believe me then check out their website here and see for yourself.

'The Children Learning Reading ^TM 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.

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'. 

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

' 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'

 60 Day - NO RISK, UNCONDITIONAL MONEY BACK, SATISFACTION GURANTEE

www.childrenlearningreading.com

 

Week Four of Social Suicide

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'. 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.

I'm now in week four of my 'no poo' adventure and I'm starting to think that I should just be like 'normal' people and wash it with shampoo. 

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...

I can't wear it down after a water wash, it just looks hideous!

 

I last washed my hair on Friday (6 days ago) with an egg and lemon wash. After this wash my hair did feel quite nice and clean but still not the same result as if I had used shampoo. 

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 cassia obovata 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.

 Anyway this is what my hair is looking like today ... 

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. So maybe it's not all bad.

I have also noticed that my dandruff has pretty much gone now, which is awesome.

 

 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. 

I'm slightly concerned about using the bicarbonate of soda incase it dries out my scalp but we'll see I suppose.

I'll let you know how that works out.

Week Three of Social Suicide

So it has been 2 weeks today since I last washed my hair with shampoo!  To find out why click here.

The alternatives that I have used so far are an egg and lemon wash, Cassia Obovata and just good old water. 

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?!)

Anyway I used the cassia obovata on Friday and it's now Wednesday and this is what my hair is looking like now...

It's not green yey

 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!

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. 

After an hour I rinsed it off (as best I could, that stuff is stubborn) and then just left my hair to dry naturally.

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.

I'll be using it again in 6 weeks so just have to wait and see what happens next time.

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. 

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.

I'll keep you posted (if I remember lol) x

 

 

Silent Sunday

Week Two of Social Suicide

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 here).

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.

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.

I last washed my hair with just water 3 days ago and it looks pretty greasy today. 

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! 

I'm slightly concerned about doing this as apparently sometimes it can make your hair turn green!! Lets hope that doesn't happen.

I'll put up another post tomorrow showing you how it turned out, wish me luck.

All I'm thinking right now is this better be worth it!!