Valentine's Day Gift Ideas

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Disclosure - We were gifted some of the products mentioned below. All thoughts, opinions and photographs are our own. This post include affiliate links.

Valentine's Day will soon be here and although it's not something we go over the top with to celebrate we do always make sure we do something together. It might be a movie night and a take away or a home cooked meal. However this year as there isn't really much to look forward to we have decided to celebrate Valentine's Day and buy each other a gift. If you celebrate Valentine's Day with your loved one then I've popped some Valentine's Day gift ideas below. 

Clear Confidence Co’s plastic-free bamboo safety razor will take your shaving experience to a new level. It’s authentic, effective and sustainably manufactured using natural materials. Team up the razor with the plastic-free shaving brush. The unique shaving brush uses grass-based bristles and offers a great alternative to badger or boar hair shaving brushes. 

A delightfully mellow and perfectly balanced small batch from Four Roses. Utilising four original and limited Bourbon recipes to create this sweet and spicy small batch. Savor its unique aromas and flavours neat, on the rocks or in your favourite Bourbon cocktail.

Add a boost of hydration to your skincare routine with Forever's Hydrating Serum. Absorbs quickly into surface layers of the skin and visibly plumps appearance of skin while enhancing texture. It can boost your skins hydration whilst shielding it against environmental stressors. It will also help to minimise appearance of fine lines and wrinkles.

Enjoy an afternoon tea at home from Piglet's Pantry. The traditional afternoon tea for four people includes a selection of treats will be delivered straight to your door. Enjoy sausage rolls, fresh cakes, scotch eggs, cheese and chive quiches and fluffy fruit scones smothered with clotted cream and strawberry conserve. Set out your table at home or relax in your garden with a cup of Earl Grey. This is the perfect excuse to get together at home and satisfy your cravings with some mouth-watering sweet and savoury bites.

Your favourite Escape Rooms may be closed at the moment but you can enjoy an Escape Room at home  with Escape Room The Game 2.  3 exciting escape rooms to choose from including panic on the Titanic, Alice In Wonderland and Dawn of the Zombies.

A selection of delicious Cadbury milk chocolates with NEW additions of the Salted Caramel Charm, Truffle Heart and Apple Crunch. Two layers of ten milk chocolate varieties in box makes a perfect chocolate gift. 

Pamper your hands the Shanghai luxury way with the Artistry Studio Soft as Silk Hand Cream Trio. They’re balmy, delightfully lightweight and floral fresh. All-day moisture and protection keep your hands feeling soft as silk on any adventure. Scents include Lotus Blossom, Pomelo, and Vanilla.

Spice Pots Luxury Indian Spice Tin makes the perfect gift this Valentine's Day. Treat your loved one to a delicious meal at home. Each Luxury Tin contains  5 perfectly balanced, 100% natural spice blends, 150 page cookbook and a bespoke cook's candle to help eliminate cooking odours.  All presented in a gorgeous tin.

The 7 Inch hand-painted resin 'You and Me' figure by Willow Tree expresses love, closeness, healing, courage and hope. Artist Susan Lordi hand carves the original of each Willow Tree piece from her studio in Kansas City. You and Me is cast from Susan's original carving and painted by hand, the perfect Valentine’s Day gift.

Do you celebrate Valentine's Day? What plans do you have?

Michelle

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January 2021 - Looking Back

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I'm a little late posting our January 2021 looking back post and if I'm honest I didn't think I would have a lot to share, but amongst all the home schooling and stay at home days we did have a nice January.

I try to take photos as often as possible and I am so glad I do, as looking back at photos is a great reminder at what we get up to.

Bike Rides

During the first lockdown John taught little J how to ride a bike. He hadn't shown any interest in a bike before, he preferred his scooter. Now he would much prefer to head out on his bike and the boys have enjoyed lots of lovely bike rides in our local area. 

I don't own a bike and sometimes I feel like I'm missing out but it has become something that just the three of them do so I don't want to ruin that so I stay at home and go on my exercise bike instead. 

Baking

Both boys have enjoyed baking this month. Little J had a maths activity that involved weighing so we decided to make it a little more interesting and turned it in to a baking activity. He made delicious cookies and it got him away from the table for a while. 

Big J decided he wanted to make us a meal which was a lovely treat. He made us a chicken dish and it was really tasty. He created it all from scratch and I think he enjoyed it. Looking forward to the next one. 

It was also nice to have another night off from cooking when the boys all made their own pizzas. All three of them love pizzas and creating their own is their favourite meal. 

Snow Days

We had a few snow days this month and although it wasn't very deep it was enough for us to head out and have snowball fights and make snow angels. The days don't seem to vary much at the moment even the weekends are a bit meh, so it was nice to have some snow and it really did cheer us up. 

Home School 

Home schooling is pretty much our life at the moment. Little J begins the day with a zoom call with his teacher and classmates and then has four lessons to complete with another zoom call at the end of the day. John and I are in a nice routine with John doing Monday, Thursday and Friday mornings and I do Tuesday morning, all day Wednesday and Monday,Thursday and Friday afternoons. Little J usually has his work wrapped up by lunchtime so it leaves the afternoons free for us to play games, build lego or just chill in front of the TV. 

Weekend Walks

This used to be the highlight of our week but as we are limited to where we can visit it's not as much fun anymore. We joined The National Trust just before Christmas and we were looking forward to exploring the UK but that will have to wait. 

Having said that we have managed to enjoy a few local walks including a trip to the beach, a snowy visit to Speke Hall and a cold and a windy walk along the waterfront.

In Other News...

John and I have tried to spend some time together as all we seem to do is work and homeschool at the moment. We have enjoyed an Escape Room at home but mostly we have just been watching tv and films together. We've watched so much this month which is quite unusual for us as we are usually busy doing other things. We managed to watch all Mandalorian, Finding Alice, The Pembrokeshire Murders and up to episode 4 of Marvel's Mini Series WandaVision which is just amazing and we can't wait for Friday to come around so we can watch another. As well as series we have also watched Star Wars Episode II, III, Rogue One and Episode IV. It's crazy that we have all this free time to watch these programmes and films. Usually this amount would take us months, maybe longer.

I have been working hard this month to be positive and to try and exercise. Lockdown is tough and it can be quite difficult at times to think of positives in what seems like a permanent doom and gloom situation. The planner helps me pick out positivity activities to do each day and also plan in some self care. My bigger goal this year is to get fit. I have tried diets over the years and they fizzle out so my self care for year is to try and get fit and if weight loss comes with that then it will be a bonus. 

Big J has been so busy in his placement in a school training to be a teacher. At first he wasn't sure how it would work with the school only open for smaller numbers however on some days he has had over 20 kids in so almost like a full class. He is really enjoying it and seems to be able to plan and execute the lessons with ease. This is his first placement and I said to him that it will be after this one when he will realise if this is actually the job for him, he's sure it is which is great to hear. 

Lastly we have given the living room a little colour makeover. We have gone for yellow and grey. We bought a new rug, cushions, lamp and other bits of furnishing. It's nice to change it round every few months as it feels so much brighter and fresh. 

So in the end January wasn't as dull and boring as I first thought and it's definitely my least favourite month of the year so I am glad it's done. 

Michelle

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Another Weekend, Another Walk | Living Arrows 5/52 (2021)

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Another week has passed and the juggling of work and homeschool continued and we all couldn't wait for the weekend. Weekend means walk and this weekend we headed to the waterfront for a change of scenery. 

We had some jobs to do around the house first so didn't manage to get out till quite late, I think it was almost 3pm. By the time we got there it was so cold and windy. It was the type of cold wind that hurts your face as you walk. We almost turned around to go back home to where it is warm but we know how important it is to get some fresh air and exercise so we persevered and we actually enjoyed it, in the end. 

Little J took his scooter as there is lots of open space to scoot around and I was surprised how many young adults there were on skateboards. I suppose there isn't much for anyone to do at the moment so why not go skateboarding by the waterfront.

We had promised little J an ice cream but unfortunately the van was there but there was no one inside. Maybe it was too cold but he did manage to pick some sweets off another van selling lots of sweets and candy floss. 

As we were walking we saw lots of people holding Costa cups so we knew the Costa was open for takeaway. John grabbed himself a coffee. It was on those type of days I really wished I like coffee as it would have warmed me up. 

After a while the cold didn't seem to bother the boys but I am really looking forward to some warmer weather. 

Michelle

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Snow Fun | Living Arrows 4/52 (2021)

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This past week was exactly the same as the weeks before with the juggling of work, home schooling and trying to keep things fun. We got to midweek and I could see that sitting at the table doing school work is just so boring for little J. He loves school but doing school work at home isn't fun. There is no one his own age to bounce off during class discussions, there is no one to play with at break time and there is no escape from us. He needs to see his friends, he needs to chat to kids his own age, he needs to be a 7 year old boy and as much as we all love each other he needs space and time away from us, its natural to need a break from people even if just for a few hours.

I was dreading the weekend if I am honest as there is no difference really from midweek to weekend at the moment. Every day feels the same however over night on Friday we had some snowfall. 

Our snowfall wasn't as heavy as other parts of the country but it was enough to perk up our moods and we headed straight out in the garden for some snow fun.

Little J didn't want to make a snowman, all he wanted to do was have snowball fights, make snow angels and be pulled around on his sledge. 

After a morning of fun we headed out for an afternoon snowy winter walk at Speke Hall. It was so lovely to see the hall and grounds covered in snow. We became members of National Trust just a few months ago and haven't had chance to visit many of the NT properties yet so it was nice to visit. 

We enjoyed snowball fights on the main lawn and enjoyed a walk overlooking the airport runways. Unfortunately we didn't get to see any planes take off or land but we did see some parked on the runway. 

Our walk was cut short when it started to hail and the temperature dropped quickly but it was lovely to get some much needed fresh air.

Michelle

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How To Make Home Schooling Fun

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Disclosure - This post contains mentions of previously gifted items

Nearly a year ago now we became home school teachers. We had no idea what we were doing, neither did the schools at the time as home schooling or learning at home was something none of us have experienced before. We got through it somehow but now we are back in the same situation as before and although this time the school seems so much more prepared, our children may not. Sitting in front of the screen all day isn't appealing to some children but there are other ways that we can teach them that seems more fun. Children follow the curriculum in school but at home it is a completely different environment and I think we need to remember that.

Maths

There are so many ways you can incorporate maths in to your day. We use numbers and shapes all the time and it can be fun.

Playing shop with real money. This can help little ones learn numbers and basic addition and subtraction.
Complete a jigsaw. Jigsaws help concentration and help encourage problem solving.
Baking. Measuring out ingredients is a great way to encourage children to learn about simple measurements and counting.
Singing. There are lots of 'number' nursery rhymes and  songs.
Apps. There are lots of apps that can encourage basic maths skills.

English
There are lots of ways to make English fun.

Watch a short movie and then ask the child to write a short story based on what they can remember. Pixar 'Shorts' 'are only between 4-7 mins long and they cover a range of topics. Encourage the child to write about the beginning, something important that happened in the middle and the end.
Treasure Hunt. Ask your child to create a treasure hunt and encourage them to write their own clues.
Reading. This can be together or the child reading alone.
Spellings. Create a spelling sheet for your child using words that they are familiar with.

Other areas of learning. 
This is such a simple idea and can cover so much.

If you ask your child to think of a place. It can be a city, a country, a landmark, a theme park, anything. You can use the internet or books to find out everything you can about the place they have chosen. This could cover

Geography - Where in the world is it? 
History - When was it built?
Technology - Research as much as you can online.
Mathematics - How many people live or visit there each year?
Reading - Finding out the facts.
Art - Ask your child to draw what they think it looks like.
Imagination - Create a role play area based on their chosen place.
Fine Motor Skills - Write out a list of facts they have found.


Making use of resources around the home. We will be using....

Geomag Mechanics Gravity Magnetic Track - Encourages STEM - Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics learning. Exploring science without the need of batteries or electricity.

Osmo - Osmo is educational without the kids knowing. It encourages basic maths and english, problem solving concentration and it's fun.

Games - We have lots of educational games that are fun and we can learn from them to.

Lego / or similar building blocks. Helps with imagination and fine motor skills.

Garden - Physical activity is very important and if you have a garden making use of this space for outside play/exercise also helps get fresh air.

Daily Challenge

Each day we are going to have one daily challenge that we need to complete. The daily challenges will be fun and could include baking a cake, making a den or creating an obstacle course. Educating your child doesn't always mean sitting a desk writing, if they are using their imagination, their fine motor skills or being creative this all adds to their development.

Our children learn every day without them knowing.

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Comments - I love reading your opinions and thoughts - Are you still home schooling? Leave us a comment below and let us know what you have been doing to make it fun. 

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Michelle

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Trying To Mix It Up | Living Arrows 3/52 (2021)

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Last week was our second week of home schooling and just as I expected the novelty had definitely worn off and little J was not as keen or interested to get started on Monday morning as he was the week before. However he managed to pick himself up and get stuck in and seemed to enjoy some of the work set.

At the moment we have no idea how long the schools will be closed for so we are trying to mix up the home school day as much as we can so he doesn't become bored. There is quite a lot of work set this time around and zoom calls at the beginning and the end of the day so he doesn't have a lot of free time. 

One of his lessons last week involved measuring so we took it one step further and made some cookies. Little J enjoyed measuring the ingredients out and made sure we took lots of photographs so we could send them to his teacher. 

He has one scheduled PE session a week which encourages the children to head outside for a walk or bike ride or do an indoor PE / Exercise session such as PE with Joe. We have tried to make sure we get out and about at least 4 out of the 5 days for a walk or bike ride. We are lucky that we have lots of cycle paths and a park close by so it's been nice for him to be able to enjoy a bike ride locally.

Little J is reading Charlie and the chocolate factory at the moment and was really keen to know what happened at the end so I suggested we watch the movie. I am a huge fan of the original so I popped it on and he didn't move all the way through, he absolutely loved it. He has also loved being able to bring his teddies to his homeschool lessons.

For RE he had to talk about someone he loves and we had a discussion about why he loves that person. I had no doubt in my mind who he would choose, his brother. To make it more interesting and fun he made a gift box which he decorated himself and we filled it with a few chocolates so he could treat his brother. 

Big J had a good week doing his university course online. It has been hard learning how to become a teacher through zoom calls but he has just found out that he will be actually going in to a school to help out until half term so is over the moon. It means he won't be at home during the day as much and I know the boys will both miss each other. They did spend lots of time together this past week both in and outside which I just love. 

Michelle

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How To Watch Marvel Movies in Chronological Order

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Disclosure - this post has been updated and republished. It also contains affiliate links.

I can't believe it's two years ago since we binge watched all the Marvel movies in just 3 weeks. Neither of us have ever wanted to watch the Marvel movies before but the world had gone Marvel crazy and everyone we knew was heading to the cinema to watch Avengers - The End Game. 

As we had never watched any we decided to look up all the Marvel movies and then we decided to watch them in chronological order rather than release order. Watching the movies and storylines in this order made more sense. 

Once we had our list we headed to Amazon Prime Video to begin. We had just over three weeks before End Game finished on the cinema to watch all 21 movies and we did it. 21 movies in 21 days. 

If you are thinking of watching the Marvel movies then here is the list in chronological order.

Captain America - The First Avenger

Set in 1943-1945

Captain Marvel

Set in 1995

Iron Man

Set in 2010

Iron Man 2 

Set in 2011

The Incredible Hulk 

Also set in 2011

Thor

Also set in 2011

Avengers Assemble

Set in 2012

Iron Man 3

Set in 2012

Thor - The Dark World 

Set in 2013

Captain America - The Winter Soldier

Set in 2014

Guardians of the Galaxy

Also set in 2014

Guardians of the Galaxy vol 2

Also set in 2014

Avengers - Age of Ultron

Set in 2015

Ant Man

Also set in 2015

Captain America - Civil War

Set in 2016

Spiderman - Homecoming

Also set in 2016

Doctor Strange 

Also set in 2016/2017

Black Panther 

Set in 2017

Thor - Ragnarok

Also set in 2017

Ant Man and The Wasp

Also set in 2017

Avengers - Infinity War

Also set in 2017

Avengers - Endgame 

Set in 2019

Spiderman - Far From Home

Set in 2019

Now we have Disney Plus I am thinking about starting them all again. I think now is a good time as the new Marvel mini series WandaVision starts on the 15th so its a good excuse to have a recap. 

If you found this post useful there are a few ways that you could say thanks and support Playdays and Runways.

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Michelle

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Back To Home School | Living Arrows 2/52 (2021)

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Well things have certainly changed since last weeks Living Arrows post. On Monday it was announced that all schools were to close after being told the day before they were safe. We all knew a National Lockdown was on the cards and that it was going to be soon but it was still a shock. Home schooling began here on Wednesday and it was definitely more organised than the last time schools closed. 

Little J starts his day with a Zoom call. It's a chance to see his friends on the screen and for his teacher to discuss what she has planned for them throughout the day. It's a lovely way to begin his day but it's also so sad because I know how much he missed his friends last time and seeing them on a screen just isn't the same. 

After the zoom he has four lessons to complete. Maths, English, RE and then a foundation subject. The workload has been okay so far but I am expecting more this week now they have had a little more time to prepare. 

The home schooling isn't as easy for us this time around as parents as I am now in work. I was furloughed last time which obviously made it easier but now we are trying to fit everything in-between John's work and mine. 

John and I are both key workers however we made a decision to keep little J home as the infection rate in our area is so high and we obviously want him safe at home. 

After he has finished his lessons we have been colouring and then also reading. He is reading Charlie and The Chocolate Factory and loves it so far. 

Once his school day is done we email all his work over for marking and he finishes the day with another Zoom call. It's a little catch up of the day and the teacher reads then a short story. 

So far little J is enjoying being at home and it is definitely the best place for him to be until this madness is over. 

Michelle

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