When I received the results of his school check up announcing that he was “borderline” with his vision I kind of assumed that he was probably not great with his letters at that stage anyway.The test took place a couple of . . . → Read More: Eye test]]>

My beautiful boy had his first eye test on Saturday.

When I received the results of his school check up announcing that he was “borderline” with his vision I kind of assumed that he was probably not great with his letters at that stage anyway.The test took place a couple of weeks only after starting in reception and I had never noticed anything that could mean he might have problems with his vision.

I had planned to take him to the optician but you know what it is like? If it doesn’t seem urgent as such then it can wait a little longer. And then there was Christmas. And life with all its “must do” things that got in the way.

A few days ago though we all sat down to read books and when Elliott struggled to read letters he knows very well and confused a “d” for a “a” or a “m” for a “n” both Craig and I looked at each other realising that this had definitely moved up on the priority list.

So today was the first check up and I was very impressed by how mature my son is! He was very calm and answered all the questions he was asked amazingly well. Not that I assumed he wouldn’t more that I still see him as my baby, a little boy who needs mummy to talk on his behalf, but no, not any longer.

Anyway it seems that we have to go back next week for an “eye drop” test to get better results as it seems from what we saw today that it is likely that he will need glasses being long sighted. Fingers crossed the results will look better than today and the reason they are not great is more due to lack of attention and being bored during the test…

As some of . . . → Read More: Have you ever thought of making money with affiliate products?]]>

This post is not one of my usual posts nor it is one of those hype “make money online” type of posts but I wanted to share with you a bit of my personal journey in the last year because I know that some of you will relate to it.

As some of you already know, I started this blog nearly 4 years ago to support the Life Coaching business for mothers I had just launched. I had just become a mum for the second time myself and I was very keen on sharing and helping other mothers enjoy motherhood.
I also was really passionate about having my own business because I wanted the flexibility for my boys and the freedom to make my own decision.

But it wasn’t long before I realised that before looking after other mums I needed to start looking after myself and this business launch just in time with the birth of my second baby was a tad unrealistic especially since my first was only 16 months old back then.

But what happened is that I joined the then only just launched British Mummy Bloggers (now Britmums) and I loved every single minute of it! I found other mums who had the same aspirations as me and the same geeky blogging passion. In some ways this was one of the defining moments of my life.

My blog started taking a huge space in my life and not only I was having fun but I was learning a tremendous amount about Online Marketing and Social Media.
I started earning a decent amount of money thanks to sponsored posts and advertising and other business owners were starting to ask me what this online stuff was all about and if I could show them.

In January 2011 I made my trainings official and started running workshops. The interest in those took me by surprise and I ran an average of 2 workshops a month for the whole year. I loved it and realised that teaching and training others was more rewarding that I could have ever hoped for.
The problem was however that in terms of business it had limits. I was spending a lot of hours offering and promoting my workshops as well as planning them to deliver the best training I could. The downside of that was that I had no work/life balance whatsoever and I was starting to reassess my personal goals.

In May last year I signed up for a mentor who showed me how to create my own information products online. This opened my eyes to a totally different universe and I started understanding how people made money online (BIG money online). I realised that the Internet was full of opportunities and that all you had to do was to seize yours. I met people at conferences who were achieving big results with affiliate programmes and selling their own information products. They were like you and me. They were not these big Internet gurus. They were totally normal and approachable people who knew how to leverage the Internet. So what until then had seemed like an unrealistic project became possible.

At the end of last year I was armed with enough belief to start looking in this direction and make money online. I realised that if you aim high you achieve high. Trust me it is hard for me to write this, simply because I know that there are a lot of people out there who don’t believe in this and who will judge this as nonsense.
The reason I decided to be totally honest and open here is because I want to share this with whoever is ready to take it.

A few weeks ago I found this guy, Stuart Ross. Stuart made his fortune online mainly through selling affiliate products. Just in case you are not sure what it is, it is the act of selling products created by other people in exchange of a commission. This has always sounded like too much work to me because I am not a natural sales person. Really not! I quit the only sales job I have ever had after 3 weeks and in tears. I hate cold calling and targets. I suppose affiliate marketing in some ways made feel like I would be doing the equivalent of cold calling online and having been scarred by that job there was no way I could do it again.
When I started watching Stuart’s videos I loved how he made the process sound. Stuart sells products he believes in (I can do that) with integrity (I like that) to people he builds relationship with (I certainly can do that!).
So I guess what I am sharing with you here is that I am going to work with him and see where it takes me. Just after 2 weeks of being a member I have already put all my processes in place and I am ready to go!

The reason I am writing this now is because Stuart is offering a very special deal that will run out on the 31 Jan 2012 and for just $4.97 you can give the Six Figures Mentors a try for 14 days! Thereafter the monthly payment to have access to an amazing amount of info is $97. The content is huge and will surely impress you!

I truly believe that Online Marketing and Information Marketing are an amazing opportunity for mums who want to make money working just a few hours a day and still have time to be mums. We are lucky to be at the beginning of the internet wave so let’s make the most of it, shall we?

Anyway I leave you with Stuart in a video where he takes you through his story and what you can expect working with him. The video is nearly 40 min long so I suggest you have a look when you can allocate some time just for it, but remember that the offer runs out next Monday 31st January 2012…

If you are already making money as an affiliate it would be lovey to hear your tips for success.

and they happen to look the same!

Check out more post on this theme at Tara’s Gallery. 

As a general rule I am certainly aware of energy saving, but to be honest until participating to the Energy Saving Survey that Southern Electric has . . . → Read More: Big Energy Week]]>

Do you take your energy consumption for granted? I certainly did. Actually I am grateful that at least one of us was feeling concerned about it until now.

As a general rule I am certainly aware of energy saving, but to be honest until participating to the Energy Saving Survey that Southern Electric has put together, my main concern was more about switching off lights you are not using or even replacing our light bulbs with energy saving ones.

Well the results of our survey is that our rating is currently a D! I really thought we were doing good but all we would need to improve it is to insulate our walls and loft. Doing this could save us £142 a year and we can request more information about grants available to help pay for the work done.

Here are a few tips also offered with the results that I want to share with you:

1. Ensure that your room thermostat is set at the right temperature. The ideal temperature is 18 – 21 degrees, depending on the household. Regularly check it to make sure it has not been changed.
2. Make sure you regularly check the heating pattern of your heating programmer to ensure that it stays in line with the current occupancy of the house. Make sure the programmer does not accidentally get set to, or left on CONSTANT by mistake. If there is a power outage, check your programmer has not lost its schedule or the clock changed.
3. When replacing household appliances think about buying A-rated goods as these will use less power saving you money and helping the environment.
4. An old boiler can be inefficient and cost you too much money. Replacing your boiler with a new A-rated model could save you over £200 a year.

This week is Big Energy Week and Southern Electric is working with Citizens Advice, charities, consumer groups, switching sites, Ofgem and the Government to give practical advice to people across the country to help them spend less on heating and powering their home.

SSE has a number of key initiatives to help save money on energy bills as well as helping the environment:

• Southern Electric’s iPlan tariff is designed to help you save on your day-to-day energy expenses, with a free smart energy kit – which includes an energy usage display screen that can be linked to an online account to help you plan your energy use to suit you, and track how much money you save.
• There’s also an Energy Efficiency Survey, which gives your home an energy efficiency rating and provides tips on any improvements that could be made.
• Finally, Southern Electric has some handy energy-saving tips – did you know that your TV, DVD and Hi-Fi use energy when not in use? Up to 90% in standby mode!

It’s a brilliant way to find out where you could be saving costs and helping the environment at the same time, no harm in trying out the tips to see just how much money you can save!

Make sure you visit the energy saving tips page for more tips on saving energy and visit the iPlan Tariff page to help you save on a day to day basis.

**Sponsored post**

I tell you what I love most about it, it is the fact that I can record ordinary moments of our life that will one day be so precious to look at.

My phone . . . → Read More: The Gallery – Phone photo]]>

I love taking photos and having a phone that takes good photos has completely changed the way I take them.

I tell you what I love most about it, it is the fact that I can record ordinary moments of our life that will one day be so precious to look at.

My phone is with me most of the time and I can capture little things I would have never captured if I had to pull a camera out.

Like a school run in the wind…

This post is for the Gallery over at Tara’s blog. Make sure you head over their to discover more posts on this theme.

You know, it is funny how you can get caught in the rush and whatever life throws at you and forget to take time to watch your children laugh, laugh with them and enjoy . . . → Read More: Happy New Year!]]>

So this is it, 2011 is truly over and although it was a good year, it was a weird one.

You know, it is funny how you can get caught in the rush and whatever life throws at you and forget to take time to watch your children laugh, laugh with them and enjoy life. Sometime it is hard to hit the brake and not worry that chances will pass you by if you do. This post was going to go up on the 1st but it didn’t because I decided to slow right down during the holidays to enjoy my family, and boy I did!

Last year I have been guilty of not spending the right amount of quality time with my boys. I have been living alongside of them not with them. I have made sure they were looked after, fed, wearing appropriate clothes and had enough toys to play with. However I have not let them get messy as much as they should have had or asked them to be quiet too many times.

I haven’t read them enough stories and too many times I have pushed them aside to prioritise work.

I have let down many friends and didn’t allow more time to see them.

This was wrong and 2012 is the corner. We are changing rules.
Elliott and Victor will only be young for a limited amount of time and nothing is worth missing that when you have the choice.

When I look back on 2011 I realise that I forgot to balance my life. Actually I forgot to live my life properly. I have been a machine under stress repeating the same pattern day in, day out and I have missed many opportunities to stop and breathe.

So for 2012 my most important goal is to reclaim fun, focus and creativity.

My computer will be turned off at 3pm everyday when I pick up the boys and I will spend time with them reading, learning, playing, cuddling and laughing.

I will take the time to cook good healthy food everyday and avoid the easy pre-packaged option as much as I can.

I will have dates with my husband.

I will read novels again and I will meditate.

I will meet my friends for coffee and go shopping.

I will take lots of photos, cross stitch and knit.

I will love and enjoy every single day!

I hope you all have dreams and wishes that will make 2012 another great one and don’t forget to take the time to live fully…

This is what I want to remember of 2011

Happy New Year to you all!

This year I . . . → Read More: One more sleep…]]>

It’s Christmas eve and I am finally feeling the Christmas spirit! I have no ideas what happened to me this year but maybe it was the lack of food shopping at the earliest hours or fighting with the rest of the nation for a couple of wrapping paper rolls or toys!

This year I was exceptionally organised and thanks to online shopping I pretty much did everything with the iPad in one hand and scoffing mince pies with the other. I loved every single minute of it! However I suspect the lack of repetitive songs like “Last Christmas” or “All I want for Christmas” have spoiled my spirit a bit.

Anyway at the time I am writing it has finally showed up, thanks to a fab panto this morning, followed by lunch and last bit of shopping. Add to that A Christmas Carol and a glass of Baileys and it’s totally Christmas!!

The boys are overjoyed to know that there is now only ONE sleep left before Santa’s visit and I am already panicking at the idea that I won’t have anymore backup for blackmail for at least another 6 months…

The atmosphere in the house is lovely and I am probably as excited as my boys waiting to see their faces in the morning.

We have just watched The Snowman which has two benefits, calm down the boys and annoy Craig who hates it so much that he refuses to be the one putting the DVD in the player!

We have prepared Santa and Rudolph’ snacks and blew out the candles in the fireplace so Santa doesn’t burn his bottom before reading a Christmas story.

Now that they are in bed, it is time for mummy and daddy to put their feet up and to put Craig through another one of his favourite thing on TV, the Eastenders special Christmas build up… Aaahhh bliss…

Before I go I want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a New Year full of the most amazing things!

From all of us to all of you!

Oh and because I was asked so nicely by the gorgeous Claire at Bad Fiction who asked me to nominate my favourite Christmas song, well since she took my all time favourite “Last Christmas” I have to give you my next favourite…

TAAADDDAAAH…

Lately though a rebellious behaviour appeared in Victor’s attitude and everything becomes a fight. Everything causes an argument from who will get to the front door first shouting “I WIN I . . . → Read More: Who’s the winner?]]>

There was a time when both my sons used to play alongside each other, in one whole unified team, generally lead by Elliott.

Lately though a rebellious behaviour appeared in Victor’s attitude and everything becomes a fight. Everything causes an argument from who will get to the front door first shouting “I WIN I WIN!!” to whoever will sit on the toilet first in the morning, the loser not hesitating to pull the winner of the toilet seat if necessary…

It is exhausting.

I am tired of spending my days being a referee, no one said that would be my main job by now! Seriously dudes, cut the competition a little and maybe I will stop bitting my nails!

But hey, let’s try this one. This year I promise to participate more . . . → Read More: The gallery – Christmas of Yesteryear]]>

So we are nearly next year and with it comes the new year’s resolutions. I am rubbish with any kind of resolutions simply because it seems that the minute I promise myself to do something my subconscious goes into sabotage mode.

But hey, let’s try this one. This year I promise to participate more often to The Gallery posts because the prompts are great, I love photos and I love peaking into other people’s life. And to seal this promise I am taking part in this weeks which is to show a photo of a past Christmas.

I thought of one from my childhood but then I remembered this photo of me 7 months pregnant with my first baby.

If I look into this photo long enough I remember every single sensation. The hand on my round firm tummy, the kicks from the baby I was soon going to meet, the thoughts going through my head: what will he look like? how will it feel to hold his tiny little body in my arms? how heavy will he be and how will that feel like? will he be a good sleeper and eater? will it be love at first sight like they talk about?

I remember the serenity and happiness that I felt back then. The feeling that nothing else mattered except that this baby was was going to make us a family.

I remember how it seemed to be the longest pregnancy ever and right there we were getting closer to its final chapter and closer to the first one of the rest of our life. A new me was going to be born along with this baby.

I remember counting the days knowing that I had not much left at work after Christmas.

I remember looking at tiny newborn clothes, washing them and hanging them to dry, feeling so proud that this was going to be part of my everyday life from then on.

Looking at this photo I can’t help but smile because this is how remember it to be, smiling from the moment I discovered the two blue lines on a hot spring’s day.

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