Career Path?

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At the moment I am a stay at home mummy to my three beautiful girls, Rosie (Almost 6), Molly (3) and Lily-Mae (Almost 1).  I want to go back to work when my three children are in nursery/school, I always swore I'd give them a good start at life and be present for the first and most important years of their life and I also swore I would do a career which I loved and had passion for when I returned to work. 

I left school with all my GCSEs and went onto college and completed three years of hairdressing training and followed that up with two more years in a salon, I hated it.  I didn't enjoy the bitchiness of a salon, the way hairdressers had to talk about everyone and discuss everyone’s lives with everyone else and stab you in the back with trust.  I lost my confidence and when I fell pregnant with Rosie it was my excuse to leave it.  I did other things in between, courses and part time work but nothing I loved.

The one thing I love in life is creativity; I love photography, writing, drama and dance.  Since a very young age I loved to take photos, recording memories, friendships and my journey through life.  On occasions I would love to take photos of family and friends dressed up and celebrating.  When my children were born I had to take lots of photos because after my first I knew those precious moments are over in a flash.  They grow up so fast and I love nothing more than to look back at my babies lives. 

Everywhere I go I take a camera, record the full journey and take photos of what I've seen and done.  I love it all, I have great passion for it and this is why today I have decided to follow my passion up and start the journey of my career path.  Lily will start 15 hours of nursery in Sept 2013, Molly and Rosie will be in full time school this will give me a chance to attend college/university and achieve the knowledge, qualifications and experience I need to start up in freelance photography.

Choosing my career path was not easy, over the years I thought it would be easier now to go back to hairdressing because the qualifications are there, I have had so many ideas of what I wanted to do but photography kept popping up but I doubted it.  I never attended college interviews at last minute and I put it to the back of my mind with so many doubts and insecurities about it.  But at the end of all this I want to have a really good try so, wish me luck

Thank you for reading

Kimberley Michelle

Pebbles on the Beach

Well it's the six weeks holidays, time to spend quality time with my girls and when the sun is shining hot my girls love the beach.  They soon get bored of building sandcastles...

So at the top of my head I thought of a game, let’s find some pretty or unusual pebbles for mammy’s garden, they actually liked the idea and spent the rest of time looking for funny looking pebbles, we put some on our castles and I brought two home that looked pretty and my eldest Rosie asked if we can do that with every beach we go to and make a feature in our garden.  I agreed.

I wondered where these fancy looking rocks had come from, or even better where had they been? I got into a discussion with Rosie and named a few countries across the North Sea, geography lesson.  Rosie also remembered Pebbles the little girl from the Flintstones... 

Here is our little Pebbles: Hair Bunches coming soon...

So... What are the pebbles on a sandy beach? There are three types of beach rock, Igneous, Metamorphic and Sedimentary.  

Igneous & Metamorphic are formed after molten rock from magma or lava cools down and turns into rock again. These rocks include quartzite, granite, slate, pumice, marble etc.

Sedimentary rocks are rocks formed on shores or water by weathering of older rocks, they settle on the ground in layers with parts of plants or animals and over time they harden into compact sediment.  These types include fossils, sandstone, shale, conglomerates and breccias. 

Beach pebbles are made up of different minerals, and one rock can have more than one or two mineral groups.  Minerals are composed of chemicals. 

To identify a specific beach pebble you need to have good knowledge of rock formation and minerals.  

You can make decor with pebbles anywhere you like, rocks offer healing and they are a link to our past. 

Here is a great website I found on beach rocks; it lists activities and ideas for children of all ages.  I think I will collect pebbles from different beach through the holidays and store them for activities during the winter months and get creative with nature yet again. 

 http://www.beachstonesinspired.com/beach-stones-activities-for-kids.html

Thank you for Reading

Kimberley Michelle

Wii Fit

Does the Wii Fit actually help get you fit? 

At the moment I am trying to lose 2 stone to be back to my pre baby weight.  With my first two children I easily went back to my original weight, I have never had a problem with how much I eat; I have never been too fussed about my weight, until now.  Lily-Mae was born the 5th September 2011 and I have gained two stone and it has not shifted.  Maybe this had something to do with the contraception implant, I had this taken out in May because of so many problems with it and got the copper coil.  I thought maybe the weight would also go but it hasn't so I am looking for different ways to get fitter and loose this two stone.  

I have had the Wii fit a while now but never put much effort into using it.  So now it’s time to test it, I have created my 'Mii' and fitness goals and as I thought, my BMI is overweight.  I have been testing out the exercises and some of them cause a sweat (Jogging and Free Step), but does it actually help lose weight?  With three young children it’s hard to get to classes and out and about exercising so I have decided to use things for exercise in my daily routine: 

• Walk to school and back three times daily
• Housework
• Wii Fit
• Wii Zumba & Just Dance
• Hiking with my family

Anymore ideas people, I would love to hear them? 

I have always loved dancing since a young age so Just Dance and Zumba I really enjoy doing, so I have an hour when my children are in bed to get dancing and burning calories from the day. 

I have been considering getting up at 6am and going for a jog around the block, lack of motivation is putting this off at the moment.  It would be nice and refreshing on a morning if I could do it. Get me started for the day. 

We have decided that this year for Christmas we will be getting bikes for us all and then off we go biking. Plus once per week we will be going to the local swimming pool for a good swim as this is supposed to be the best exercise. 

So the Wii Fit? This is what I have been reading so far... 

"The Wii Fit shouldn’t be used as a substitute for real exercise." If you don’t do any exercise at all this is good way to start though, right? 

"Nintendo isn’t claiming the Wii Fit helps lose weight or become healthier.  They wanted to create a game that contained entertaining activity."

There are many bad reports in saying it doesn’t help much but I get out of breath and my heart gets racing, so this must mean it’s better than sitting doing nothing?  Today I plan to make my own routine on Wii Fit plus which I can do for an hour each day; I will let you know the progress.  I think it is a good idea to get my weight once a week while trying to lose weight so I know what is happening.  I’ll be reporting back in a month’s time and I'll let you know how I get on.

Thankyou for Reading

Kimberley Michelle

English Heritage

Hello World... Well today I was wondering what I can do with the girls for the summer holidays.  I have a love for history and to keep my girls learning through the holidays my friend suggested joining the English Heritage for £82 per year for me and my partner and up to 6 children.  Well I thought this was a brilliant idea because we always love visiting old castles and ruins. So we joined and can now visit up to 400 castles, stately homes, ruins and more without worrying about admission fees.   These fees go towards preserving our heritage before our past is lost forever.

English Heritage Website

The English Heritage sites have all sorts on for the kids through the holidays such as re-enactments of knights, Vikings and myths and legends all over the country. There are trails and craft tents for the children and lots to learn about English history.  So when I start my adventures into the past I'll keep you posted.

Thank you for Reading 

Kimberley Michelle