Midterm Break Mayhem, Let the games begin!

This time last year before our son started preschool when I heard other parents talking about the craziness of midterm I used to think "Whats the big deal, I'm at home all the time with my two and it's fine" Now I realise all to well, it is a big deal! 

Since our son began pre-school in August those few hours while he was away and just minding one have given me a new lease of life. Walking to the village and around the shops is so much easier when you have just one to mind plus its a bonus that she's still nicely tucked up in her buggy ;-) My routine has been super and on those rainy days with the helping hand of grandparents to collect our son from school, I managed to get even some me time! I'd tuck our lil lady up for her nap earlier and for about 30 minutes, sometimes more, it was just ME! Ah, heaven :-) Now for the next 18 days, there is no time for mammy to enjoy walks to the village with 1 or even a few minutes alone. 

I know there have been midterm breaks before but on those occasions, I was lucky to have my husband sharing the load as he too was on holidays. Now, its just me! It's me and our little beauties wanting to be entertained all the more now that their routines are out of whack! For the next 18 days I have to try keep all things calm and hope no storm rises! In order to do that I've been doing a lot of planning and have picked up some midterm treats to occupy our little munchkins and hopefully keep any storm at bay :-)

A couple of weeks ago I picked up this fab little baking kit from Aldi for just €14.99! Our son is always asking to help more and I thought how perfect. It has all the utensils he needs to bake up some nice treats for us all and show off his skills in the kitchen! 

Having this baking set will finally give us a chance to try out this Children's Cookbook that my dad picked up in a local charity shop for us to try. Learning to cook and bake is so important and great for getting fussy eaters to try something new. There are no excuses for me now as we have what we need its just a matter of getting on with it! No doubt with Easter around the corner we will be trying out these recipes! 

A couple of months ago, I saw these Annabel Karmel Ice Lollie holders on sale in Tesco at €1.49 and thought perfect! I hid them away from little eyes knowing that they would come in very handy when needed! Not surprising there is a recipe for Water Melon Ice lollies in the book my dad got and no doubt our two will want to give them a try ;-)

For those of you who follow me on Facebook you will know I took advantage of the good weather on Saturday and made a start on the garden sowing some seeds we bought earlier that morning. 

To add to the collection some additional seeds today in Lidl. After trying my hand last year sowing some peas and hearing our son then 3 saying "Mammy, these are nicer than sweets" I though Eureka, I'm going to plant a variety of vegetables this year! 

With this great window sill greenhouse from Aldi that I picked up during the week I've no doubt we will have some fun watching our seeds grow :-)

Along with picking up some seeds today in Lidl and after the fun we had last year with Easter Crafts and Bonnets I couldn't leave without getting some of the fab crafts they have on offer! There was such a fantastic range available of Spring / Easter crafts and no doubt if I was in the car, I would have purchased a lot more! 

After being inspired by some recent posts by Simply Homemade I had to pick up the egg painting sets! The painted eggs look fantastic in the image below from Simply Homemade so it was a no brainer really! 

On Friday weather permitting we will be on the hunt for some branches to hang the lovely eggs I picked up too! I've already mentioned to Simply Homemade how I was going to knick .....borrow this idea and to be fair, its so simple but effective. You can read her recent post here about her egg painting experience. 

Credit for above images is Simply Homemade :-)

So, i think with above I have the first few days covered along with going to out local St. Patricks Day Parade! For the rest of the midterm, all I can do is pray we have fab weather and there's lots of playtime outside to keep them occupied! 

Don't forget to follow me on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to see how I'm getting on with the crazy ..... I mean the calm ;-)

It's all down to planning!

Today has been a pretty big day for me. For those of you who follow me on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram you will know that today I attended a meeting at Kildare's Local Enterprise Office. This meeting was a big step for me in bringing #SecretProject one step closer to becoming a reality! For the last 24 hours I have been preparing myself mentally for the meeting and thinking of the various outcomes! With thinking of the business I've also been thinking a lot about my blog too! 

When I first began my blog I never thought that I'd be writing and sharing with you about setting up a business. As I write this now and say to myself "I'm going to be opening up a business" it seems crazy and in ways I wonder if I'm nuts? 

Its feels so surreal how my journey has changed from my initial post 17 months ago! I feel now that my blog is no longer about the "Clucks and Downs" of a stay at home mum but of a work at home mum! Becoming a work at home mum is both exciting and frightening! The frightening part for me is not if the business will fail but that I might let down my family. For nearly 5 years I have been at home with my family and I have watched them grow. Now with setting up a business I'm adding additional tasks to my day and in turn my family won't have me there in the same way anymore and this in ways scares me. 

My reasons for wanting to set up this business is because I believe it will be a success and I want to try and be able to help towards providing for my family. My family mean the world to me and I want to help if I can by providing in some way for them now and into the future. 

As I've been preparing business plans, working on branding and sourcing people for things like marketing and a website I've found myself feeling a new lease of life. As I do all of this, I'm reminded of a lot of things I was great at in a former life and it makes me smile. While I'm somewhat scared I might let my family down, I know too that if I plan well and use my multitasking skills then it will benefit us all. I know that I can do both......it will take a lot of planning and learning along the way but I know I can and I will help towards providing for my family! I've faith in my family and I know they have faith in me! Together, we will plan the right steps for us to make the journey smoother when the business launches. 

So, after a big step today for #SecretProject, it is a big step too for Chirps from a Little Red Hen! No longer will you be reading about the "Clucks and Downs" of a stay at home mum but the "Clucks and Downs" of a work at home mum ......here's hoping there's a lot more "Clucks" ;-)