Mami2Five

Parenting five children, trying to stay sane!

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Does your child know what a birthday is?

Does your child know what a birthday is?

A birthday. The day we celebrate a person’s life and the fact they have reached another year older. It’s obvious that’s what it is. Isn’t it?

Today, I learnt that my fiveyear old had no idea what a birthday actually is! Just as a bit of a backstory, his birthday was last week and mine was 8 days before his, so birthdays have been high on the discussion list for a good while now. This is how that…

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You know, that elephant dinosaur!

You know, that elephant dinosaur! A story from my four years olds imagination

The one thing that definitely can’t be said about my youngest is that he has a lack of imagination! When his older siblings talk about dreams they have had, he will join in with some wild and wonderful tales about his own dreams. He talks in his sleep so I am well aware of the fact that he does actually have some fantastic dreams, but I often wonder how much he makes up as he goes along. 

Being a…

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Choosing Christmas gifts for men from Uncommon goods

Everyone loves a bit of shopping. I actually hate physically going to the shops but I can quite happily window shop on the internet for hours at a time, especially when I am looking to buy gifts for family and friends.One of the wonderful things about the internet is that you are now able to easily see what is available to buy, all across the globe. In theory this is fantastic, but quite often…

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Migraine or meningitis. Would you always know the difference?

Did you know that migraines and viral meningitis share a lot of the same symptoms? Until last week, neither did I!

We had a bit of a scare last week, which I will tell you about below, and I thought it only right to share the information I learnt with you all. Just in case the same thing happened to someone else.

As you can see from this infographic that I threw together the symptoms of both…

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Review and Giveaway ~ Win one of two Mokuru Fidget Toys!

Review and Giveaway ~ win One of TWO Mokuru Fidget Toys!

Fidget toys really are the ‘in thing’ this year and if your house is anything like mine you have spinners of all shapes and sizes, and with lots of broken bits, coming out of your ears! But move over fidget spinner, there’s a new kid on the block!

When I was first offered to review the Mokurufidget toy I was a bit dubious it would be a hit with my kids. After all, it is basically just a big…

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Newborn Essentials List ~ Just the things you REALLY need!

When it comes to having a baby, the first time parent can be forgiven for getting completely overwhelmed by the array of items that are classed as ‘essentials’. Honestly though babies need very few things for the first few months and the real essentials can be as cheap or as expensive as you are willing to pay.

If you are preparing for baby on a budget remember, not only can most items be picked…

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Review ~ Stikbot Pirate Movie set

Our review of the Stikbot Pirate Movie set

Being a typical 11 year old boy, LV loves anything to do with computers, movies and video games. So when he was given the chance to review the Stikbot Pirate Movie set he was over the moon! 

We had one lonely little stikbot already that LV hadn’t really known what to do with yet, but as soon as the Movie set arrived, and he saw the costume stickers, he started planning his epic battle between the…

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Going Gluten Free on a Budget

Tips for going Gluten Free on a budget

Going gluten free, whether it be for medical reasons or purely as a lifestyle choice, can be daunting. But once you get the hang of reading ingredients labels, you will soon realise it is actually relatively straight forward. You will also realise that a gluten free diet is far from cheap. Food manufacturers have caught on to the fact that gluten free foods are a big thing nowadays, which on one…

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Twins; Should you buy two of the same toy or make them share?

Twins; Should you buy two of everything or make them share?

Recently, a question popped up in my Facebook timeline from a group dedicated to parents of twins. This particular mother was asking about having identical toys for her young twins and whether this was okay. Many of the replies to her post were from parents insisting that she was wrong to do so and that her children would never, ever learn to share if she always bought two of everything. 

Persona…

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Frugal tips for feeding a family on a budget

Feeding a family can be expensive. When that family is larger than average costs can quickly escalate! Because we have teenagers it means that I am now basically feeding five adults and two children at every single meal. I also try and make extra so there are leftovers for lunches etc too.

We have been trying to make our finances look a bit healthier this year and I am trying to be a bit more…

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My thoughts on America's gun laws and Army Cadets

My thoughts on America’s gun laws and Army Cadets

Did you know, that in 2016 alone there were 385 mass shootings in America? There are only 365 days in a year!!! Just in case you didn’t know (I didn’t until google informed me) that a mass shooting is where four or more people are killed or injured. Did you also know that in total, there were over 15,000 gun related deaths in America in 2016? I know America is a huge country, but those numbers…

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Why we waited so long for another baby

Why we waited so long to have baby number five:

When O was a baby, I would occasionally get questioned about the big age gap between my children, people would presume that he was either from a second marriage, or that he was unplanned. After all, my others were all close in age and much older. As he, and especially his sisters, have grown up there have even been the odd occasion where you can just tell people are wondering who his mother is!…

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Gluten and dairy free gingerbread men recipe

Gingerbread Men are a very popular biscuit for children any time of the year. But if you think about all things winter, Christmas in particular, gingerbread has to be right near the top of your list along with snow days, hot chocolate and candy canes.

Being gluten and dairy free needn’t mean you have to miss out either. This recipe has been in the making for a couple of years now but I think I…

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Review ~ Noom Coach Healthy Weight Program

My review of the Noom Coach Healthy Weight Program

A few weeks ago I was asked if I wanted to test out Noom Coach, the updated version of the Noom Weight App that I tried out just over two years ago. I really enjoyed using it the first time round and was excited to try this newer, updated version.

What I liked about the original app was the fact it kept me accountable for what I ate. I found I was less likely to eat something unhealthy, like two…

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My last baby is starting school and I'm okay with that.

My last baby is starting school at 3 years old and I'm okay with that.

Last week my youngest child, who only turned three in July, started full time in our local Welsh language primary school.

My two boys. One's just starting his school journey and the other is in his last year in primary. I wish time would slow down just a little!

A photo posted by Katie (@mami2fiveblog) on Sep 5, 2016 at 1:21am PDT

  This might sound unusual to those of you who are…

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Dear France. The Burkini Ban. Really?

Dear France. The Burkini Ban. Really? #burkiniban

Over the last week or so I have been getting this horrible feeling right in the pit of my stomach. A feeling that lies somewhere between disgust and bewilderment, with a healthy dose of anger thrown in for good measure. The reasoning behind this feeling?

The Burkini

I’m sure you have all heard about the ban on some French beaches of this garment? If not, let me give you a quick recap. A few…

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The practical guide to surviving summer

My practical guide to surviving summer

Can you believe that we are already half way through the summer holidays? If your kids are anything like mine, three days in the kids were already bored, one week in, they could barely spend ten minutes in the same room as each other without one looking at the other funny, or someone ‘accidentally’ elbowing someone else in the head. Right? By now you are probably wishing you could run and hide…

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