... Pumpkin Patch Fun ...

Hellooooooo.

Yes, I know I've been away for well over a year, but I'm back now!

I had a break from the blog as life got a little bit hectic with work, Uni and family life.

A lot has happened in the past year and I will write a proper catch up about all of that in another blog post.

But for now, this is just a short one about our fun at a pumpkin patch over at Undley Farm in Suffolk.

The boys have always enjoyed visiting Pumpkin patches and we did it a few times when we lived in Kent but have never done it since we moved to Norfolk.

Last year we grew our own in the garden so there was no real need to go and buy them.

 This year however only two grew in the garden, and after seeing a friend post some pictures I knew the boys would enjoy it. 

It only took an hour for us to get there, most of the drive it was chucking it down, but fortunately for us, the weather dried up as we arrived.

The inflatables weren't on as it was too wet but the boys weren't really too bothered by that, as there was plenty of other things to do once we had finished pumpkin hunting. 

We each picked a pumpkin each and then we decided to get a massive white pumpkin for the whole family.

I think it will look pretty awesome once it's carved.

In total we spent just under £30 on a ridiculous amount of pumpkins as Ru sneaked in some diddy ones towards the end.

I now need to think up lots of uses for the pumpkins we aren't going to carve.

If you have any good pumpkin recipes I would love to know.

Happy Pumpkin Picking if you're heading off to a patch this weekend.

Easy craft ideas for kids to make at home

As the days draw in, and the weather takes a turn for the worst, entertaining your children at home becomes ever more important! So, from DIY hamster toys to seasonal crafts, here are a few easy ideas for activities to do with your children at home.

Get your seasonal craft on

It’s a beautiful time of year, so why not do some seasonal crafting to suit! Here are a few ideas:

1.    Cut an apple in half and create pumpkin paintings. 

Simple dip the half apple in orange paint and print the shape onto paper. 

Glue on a brown pipe cleaner stalk, googly eyes and draw a mouth and away you go!

2.    Go pumpkin picking. Pumpkins can be fun for many different things. 

Why not pick out your favourite at the pumpkin field; carve a fun shaped face into the side; get your bake on for a pumpkin pie; or cooking up a pumpkin soup.

Go on an adventure walk, and then get crafting

This time of year is beautiful, with its autumn leaves, fallen conkers and so much more. 

Why not take your children out on a nature walk and pick up a load of seasonal goodies to get craft with? 

Here are a few ideas for things you can do with your autumnal pickings.

1.    Use conkers to help toddlers paint. All they need to do is dip the conker into the paint, and make patterns like flowers, dots and so much more.

2.    Create bunting or an autumn mobile with fallen autumn leaves. Use a piece of string and tie the stalks of leaves into pretty patterns. 

There are so many beautiful, bright colours to include.

Make something for your pets

From DIY hamster toys to homemade cat or dog toys, why not recycle old items from around your home to create things for your home. 

Here are a couple of ideas:

1.    Rip an old t-shirt into strips and tie them around an old tennis ball. This creates an ideal tug toy or fetch toy to play with puppies and dogs!

2.    Stack up old toilet roll cardboard inserts into a pyramid and glue old ice lolly sticks to the sides to hold them together. This creates a fun tunnel stack for your hamster.

So, whether you want to have a little adventure outside before getting crafty with seasonal ideas or recycle things at home to make DIY pet toys, these ideas should be everything you need to keep your children occupied indoors.

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Images: www.unsplash.com 

Natural Nursery: Make Your Baby's Room Greener

If you're interested in making sure that you have a green home, your baby's nursery is one of the main areas you should focus on. Creating an eco-friendly nursery is good for the environment, and it also helps to keep the room healthy for your baby. 

You can use a few different tricks if you're thinking of ways to create a natural nursery. The way you decorate it, the things you choose to put in it and how you clean it can all make a difference to how green your nursery is. Take a look at these methods for making it more natural.

Use Paint with No VOCs

VOCs (volatile organic compounds) can be found in most house paints, as well as a variety of other materials. These chemicals can affect the air quality, and they're not particularly healthy, especially for a nursery. Fortunately, you can get paint that doesn't contain VOCs or only has a very low level of them. It's important to be careful when you paint a nursery, anyway. You should always make sure that the room is well ventilated and has plenty of time to air out before your baby starts sleeping in there.

Pixabay photo

Choose Toys Made with Natural Materials

As well as practical items, you probably want to fill the nursery with toys. It's hard sometimes to keep the volume of toys under control, but sticking to natural and eco-friendly ones can help. 

If you want toys that are healthy and greener than those made from plastic, there are plenty of baby toys made from wood and other organic materials, such as cotton. Of course, you also need to make sure that any toys you choose are safe too. That means checking for any small pieces that could come off or anything that could cause injury.

Pick Organic Bedding

The bedding in your baby's bed is another thing to consider too. You have to put some thought into how safe it is in other ways, so it's a good idea to think about how natural it is at the same time. Choosing organic bedding will ensure you have eco-friendly, soft and natural materials. You can often make sure that it's fair trade too, especially if you choose to buy organic cotton. There are still plenty of cute options for colours, patterns and styles if you choose organic bedding for your baby's nursery, and it's not hard to find.

Use Green Cleaners

You also need to think about how to keep your nursery clean. It's understandable if you want to choose gentle and natural cleaners for this room in particular. But you also want to keep everything clean to help your baby stay healthy. Fortunately, there are more natural cleaning products that will help you clean your baby's room and are also non-toxic and good for the environment. It's also good to keep in mind that you don't want to clean obsessively - babies need to be exposed to some germs to help their immune system.

Make your nursery more natural by carefully choosing the things you choose to go in it, as well as how you clean it.