-
-
-
-
-
Recent Posts
Categories
Featured Posts
Tags
Category Archive: Family
Subcategories: No categories
Project Complete – Lego Campervan Review
We are a massive Lego family – we have whole cupboards, huge boxes, small boxes and now a Lego Head dedicated to the stuff. Its become an important element of Christmas that on Boxing Day the dining room table is cleared and our comes the Lego kit that Santa delivered a day earlier (He’s never let us down yet!) We’ve had alsorts over the years – A plane, An Airport, A House, Fire Station but I reckon this year’s is my personal favourite… A Lego VW CamperVan (I’m sure I’ve mentioned here before about our other obsession of VW Campers too – and yes, I still haven’t finished that knitted Camper!) The kit came with over 1300 pieces and said that it was designed for age 16+ – Not a family to be deterred by a challenge, we set about it after our Boxing Day lie in. There were about 12 bags of different sized Lego pieces (some of which were the teeniest I’ve ever seen). If you needed 3 of a certain size, you couldn’t guarantee that all 3 would be in the same bag – You have to be a Lego fan to know that this is the more »
Tagged lego campervan, lego review, toy review
The Costellos visit Chill Factore, Manchester
These are pictures of my children having a brilliant morning. A morning that they are still rabbiting on about 3 days later. Ok, I know the picture of Tara looks like I’ve squashed her into a rubber ring (and to be truthful I had but she looked really funny) but believe me she was having fun. Last Saturday saw a rare visit to Manchester that didn’t involve a pool and all 5 of us could take part in. The Costellos landed at Chill Factore. We were there to take part in sledging (anyone aged 4 +), Meet Father Christmas in Santa’s Grotto and encounter Peppa Pig. When we first arrived we were quickly whisked through to the changing area. There’s no messing here so you don’t feel like you are wasting time. It was here I developed a love of ski pants that can be worn over jeans – I’ve never felt so comfy and cosy! Myself and Tara were only going to the snow play area suitable for ages 2-4 so we didn’t need helmets but were still given trousers, boots and jacket (I wore my own). Clever Tip: Put the bottom of the trousers over the heel of more »
Ice Age Cake – Cake of the Week
I’ve got a confession – I’ve never seen Ice Age. In fact, there’s tons of children’s films I have never watched. I’ve never seen Shrek either but I can more or less repeat the script word for word thanks to my girls watching it on the iPad in the car behind my head. Anyway, back to the cake. A joint cake for my niece, Phoebe (4) and nephew, Milo (1). Phoebe more than makes up for me not watching Ice Age – she loves it. I’d be surprised if she wasn’t approaching triple figures of the amount of times she’s watched them. Phoebe and Milo have birthdays on 27th and 28th December so maybe consigned to a few more years of joint cakes. I will always stick by my promise never to get them joint birthday/Christmas presents though. We had a busy week for Cake of the Week entries last week. Sadly Jackie who has been so loyal about posting pictures of her cakes isn’t able to join in for the time being – Changes to Facebook mean that she cannot share her pics (or we can’t look at them) We’ll miss you Jackie and hope you still visit often. more »
The Costellos Go Surfing – The Gallery – Sport
Well, its been quite a week for sport putting it mildly. Although we are still in France, Olympic fever is still strong here (except for French TV not showing Tom Daley in the diving tonight but I won’t harp on about that!) The beginning of the week started off with our Olympic adventure from Biarritz to London and back again within 36 hours (blog post to come soon!) and by Wednesday we were all back in the sea. Even Tara has developed a new obsession with the waves. A long time ago you may remember me posting about my list of things to achieve before I’m 40 (53 weeks tomorrow by the way!) Having a go at surfing was on the list – I have to admit I’m not sure why, I’ve never been THAT desperate to have a go but on the list it was. I was having a rare moment alone in the sea (anyone who has ever been on holiday with a 10,6 and 1 year old will know that you don’t get an awful lot of time alone) when Derm joined me complete with surfboard telling me I was having a go. Tara was being looked more »
Westin Gourmet – Meat Box Review and Special Offer
I never cease to be amazed what you can order to be delivered to your door – I know I’m from an era when I can remember life without the internet (shock horror, how did we cope?) so I’m still in awe of the process of actually getting cold, decent food without having to go out for it. I was contacted a couple of weeks ago about to see if I would like to try out the Westin Gourmet First Time Visitor meat selection pack and jumped in straightaway. My OH is from a big meat eating family, so I knew it would go down well with his irish genes (apologies for the stereotyping!) Westin Gourmet are a UK based company that are Fine Food Guild accredited, Observer Food Awards Runner Up and Meat Management Award finalists and used by many of Britains top restaurants (yes, these are their own words, but it sums them up so well) My experience of dealing with them was professional, yet friendly so I was looking forward to my delivery. I knew what was going to be in the box before it arrived, but when it came I was bowled over by how much more »
Great Garden Moments – What does your garden mean to you?
Our garden is … Where we assemble as a family A place of fun An extra room of the house Where children can be free Where we willingly step into freezing cold water in a paddling pool Where we remove a fence panel and have fun and BBQ’s with neighbours Where the cat melts Where the best parties happen Looking really plush at the moment with all this rain Somewhere we wish we were using a bit more this summer What does your garden mean to you? I’m entering this post into the Furniture Village great garden moments competition to win some Cheltenham garden furniture worth £1209 and Waitrose vouchers worth £250. Although it feel like its been raining since 2011, these pictures were taken at the end of May on a glorious Sunday afternoon. The children were happy, their parents were relaxed and all was well with the Costello family. Bliss!
Sonny’s Christening – Cake of the Week
Another celebration in the Costello family this weekend. Our nephew, Sonny Patrick John was baptised yesterday and I am delighted to have been chosen as his Godmother. Little Sonny is 6 months old now and REALLY cute – Tara adores him (sometimes that little bit TOO much! I’m not sure he will forget how she crawls all over him in a hurry) I think Sonny is always going to have lots of playmates – Here’s a pic of him with his Mumd, Dad and all his cousins (and an uncle thrown in there for good measure too) My sister (Ray) was very easy-going about what Sonny’s christening cake was like so I made a model of his favourite toy for the top and carried on with a green and brown theme – no pastels for us! Considering how manic last week was, it is a miracle there was a cake at all so I’m really pleased with it. So what else was happening in the cake world last week? I’ve a plan for a new feature on the blog that I will start in September – watch this space! Other than that, I had a week away from Twitter and more »
Favourite Picnic Food – Picnic Spicy Herby Potatoes
According to the Foodies 100 it is National Picnic Week this week – we have been asked what is our favourite food for a picnic. Being a massive outdoor, caravanning, picnicking family we have hundreds of picnics every year so am always on the lookout for interesting nibbles on the go. I’ve never been a massive fan of the sandwich – I find that the kids get bored so quickly with various flavour (especially as they take packed lunches to school too), the bread or wraps so soggy so soon and don’t get me started on sandy butties on the beach! My previous life as a food hygiene trainer doesn’t help either as I like to stay clear of any meats/fish or generally anything that can result in picnic poos. So what do we take on a picnic? I introduce to you, the Costello’s Spicy Herby Potatoes. I’ve taken them on every picnic imaginable since I discovered how fab they are – Freezing cold New Year’s Day walks, meals on the beach in Biarritz in sublime temperatures, the grotty picnic room of local outdoor play areas – you name it, they’ve been devoured there! Preparation time: 2 minutes Cooking time: more »
The Costellos v’s The Coles – The Race is on!
We are not a particularly competitive family but once a year an event happens that gets us all excited. Its the Great North Swim in Windermere where hundreds of swimmers of all abilities swim a mile in the Lake – some for charity, some just because they are crazy! My husband and my sister are two of those crazy people. Its the second time that they will be swimming against each other and neither wants to tell the other how fast they are likely to be swimming. We make a weekend of it, staying up in Ambleside and the rest of the family join us on the day, cheering them both on. But who do I cheer for? Who comes first … husband or sister? As fate would have it, I don’t have to choose. On Saturday morning I will be driving from Ambleside to Manchester as Millie takes part in her first real synchronised swimming comp. Think routines, gelatined hair and sequins. Its all going on! So good luck Derm and Maz (in strictly alphabetical order!) Hope the swim goes well and the best person wins (EEK!) or you both get identical times. xxx
Cake of the Week – Birthday Cakes
The cakes for this week may not be the biggest or the most elaborate but they are definitely no less special. I’m giving you two cakes for the price of one this week. The first cake is a 21st cake for Daniel. Daniel is the son of a good friend of mine, Donna. I met Donna when our daughters started school together and I’m so glad I did. Just one of those people and families that you are glad to have in your life (and she’s good at drinking wine too!) Daniel has complex special needs and is unable to actually eat any of his cake but that really made me want to make it even neater than normal. They were having 50 million people round to their house yesterday to celebrate with Daniel – Hope it all went well! The second cake for this week is sadly a very quick cake (and another Hello Kitty). Our lovely Violet is 6 today but still wanted a cake to take with us on our holidays. She has requested a Hello Kitty for this week and a Moshi Monsters for her party the day after we get back – Help! The cake more »
