Category Archives: Family

Disney on Ice presents Worlds of Fantasy

February 9, 2014Cardiff Stuff, Family, Reviewscardiff, Disney on Ice, kidsLearnerMother

We’ve been trying to take our minds off this horrible weather by talking about what we’re each looking forward to later on this year…the kids are excited about various things, from our camping trip to Dartmouth (not till it’s MUCH warmer mind) to getting their own bedrooms when the House Project is completed (haven’t quite broken it to them that it’ll be next year rather than this…)

The one thing that’s causing the most excitement, for my lovely girl especially, is our trip to see Disney on Ice presents World of Fantasy. This show, which promises to be absolutely spectacular, is coming to Cardiff in April, as the last stop on a tour of the UK which takes in Leeds, Birmingham, Nottingham, Glasgow and London on the way. We’ve never been to a live Disney show before, or a show on ice for that matter, and it’s fair to say we’re pretty excited about both!

The show itself is based around an adventurous journey by Mickey and Minnie Mouse, who turn to Goofy and Donald Duck for some roadside assistance when their car breaks down…I don’t think I’ll be giving too much away if I tell you that this particular ‘A’ team did not manage to get the car moving again without some assistance from the coolest of the Disney Cars!

As well as those Cars, the worlds of The Little Mermaid, Toy Story 3 and my girl’s favourite, Tinkerbell are all interwoven into the show – meaning that there’s something for Disney fans of all ages. Creating sets for all these very different worlds can be no mean feat – and probably explains why the show needs no less than thirteen trucks to get it from place to place!

It’s fair to say we’re really looking forward to our first Disney show…if it sounds like fun to you, why not visit the Disney on Ice website, where you can find out more about the show and book tickets for any of the UK venues.

**Disclaimer – We have been kindly invited to ‘Disney on Ice presents Worlds of Fantasy’ by Mickey, Minnie and the rest of the crew**

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Small Things #2

February 4, 2014Family, Independent Retail, LearnerMother, Small Thingscareer, family, kids, small thingsLearnerMother

Morning morning from Mrs Chirpy Face here! Time for Small Things #2 🙂

Sorry. I know I shouldn’t be chirpy so early in the day. It’s not right, and it’s just plain inconsiderate. But there it is, and here I am!

I’m feeling all chirpy because this week is the start of my new life/work balance. I’ve blogged before about how working 4 days a week was proving counterproductive for our family. So after the Christmas break I went to see my boss to give my notice in. The intention was to go back on the payroll at our shop for a couple of days a week, sorting out our neglected website and social media presence, and then trying to cobble together enough freelance bits and pieces to give me another day, thus getting to the Holy Grail of the three day week, which is what seems to work for us at this stage of the kids’ lives.

It’s taken a few weeks to iron everything out but the upshot is that I have now been given a new one day a week contract at work! This is brilliant as I like my employer, and I like the work I do, and also it takes the pressure off with scrabbling for freelance assignments when I’m not qualified to do anything, at all.

There is one fly in the ointment, which is the skint thing. This reorganisation dramatically and scarily reduces my take home pay. And that kind of brings me on to the Small Thing (since technically reorganising my work life is a Big Thing and so I’m not sure qualifies for the MummyNeverSleeps Small Thing Linky).

So my Small Thing is this: Right after gave my notice in, our car died (permanently) and my son brought home a letter about a school residential trip. Both those things come with bills attached and as yet I haven’t figured out how we are going to pay for either of them. Huh? Where’s the Small Thing in that sentence, I hear you cry….well, reader(s), the small thing is the word AFTER.

Because if these bills had arrived before I gave my notice in, I probably would have been ruled by my head and not done it at all. But my heart and my gut – and my kids reactions – tells me that skint or not skint, bills or no bills, I have done the right thing.

So there you have it. Small Thing #2, brought to you by the word ‘after’.