[00:00:42] This game called ice cream.
Me too.
Yeah.
It's the best. [00:01:18]
Good morning guys, and welcome back to my channel and to another vlog. This morning,
the boys have already been on their virtual school calls and they've now got a 20 minute
break, so they're just out in the garden there, doing water balloons, and then they have to
log back on in 20 minutes or so. Their school has changed the way that they do things. When
it was announced that they definitely won't be going back to school until September, they
started doing virtual teaching. So they now have to log on at 9:00, have lessons with
their teacher, it's normally maths and English, and then we can do other things in the afternoon.
So, yeah it's a bit of a new routine to get used to.
They start at 9:00 or 9:15, and we have to rush to get ready. God knows how we're ever
going to be able to get up and out of the house like we used to. We used to all be ready
by 8:00 and then out of the house so that they get to school at 8:30. But now, we're
used to hanging out in our pajamas and stuff, so it has been a bit of a wake up call.
But yeah, we're just going to do some homeschooling this morning, and then I've got a cool little
life skill to show you as well.
[inaudible 00:02:24].
Caleb's just done his English Zoom call. It's about 30 degrees outside, but he's got a blanket.
Top, this classroom.
Number four-
So virtual school is done for another day and they've just finished their classes. I
think it's really good that they're having lessons with their teachers live, but sometimes
it does take a little bit longer than if I was just to teach them myself, but I can't
complain at their school has been incredible the whole way through lockdown.
But now it's about 11:30 and we're going to do an activity that I have wanted to do with
the boys for so very long. Today, we're going to make vision boards or you can also call
them dream boards, which is basically just printing out things that they love and that
they want to do in the future and putting them onto a board. I bought these little corkboards
and some little pins, but you could literally do this on cardboard or paper, anything you
want to. And then we're going to put it into their room. Some of you guys will know that
I've read The Secret. I like to have my own vision board. And I really do believe that
what you think about, you bring about, and I would totally recommend you guys reading
it as well. And when I started thinking about what I wanted and focusing and setting goals
and things, I really feel like life changed for me.
And so as soon as I had the boys, I thought I want to teach them this from a very young
age. So today is the day. So we're just going to visualize what they want in the future.
And you know, any goals that they have. I know they're only young, but I think this
will be really good for them. So I'm just going to print out the pictures on our little
printer here. I get loads of questions about what printer we have. We have an HP ENVY printer,
and it has been such a lifesaver during lockdown. Obviously the amount that we're printing has
gone up double, triple what we used to do before lockdown, but we've got this really
good thing, which is HP Instant Ink. I've had it for years and it is so handy because
basically whenever you're running low on ink, it would just arrive at your door.
You don't have to order it or anything, it's all hooked up. So it knows when you're running
out and then it just arrives at your door. You get the proper HB cartridges that you
would buy yourself. And it actually saves you up to 70% off of ink costs. So when we
bought this printer, we actually got two months of ink for free. And then you choose a plan
that suits you depending on how many pages you print. So the plans start as little as
$1.99, which is what we were on to begin with, which gave us 50 pages per month. But since
we've been in lockdown, we have upped that to a package which is $7.99 per month. And
that gives us 300 pages per month. But we've really been using that because of all the
schoolwork that the boys are doing. And I've also been printing more coloring
pages and games to entertain Jackson as well. And because of our house move, we've actually
been printing out a lot of stuff that the solicitors are sending us because we find
that it's just quicker to print it than them send it to us. So we are really using our
allowance. But if for any reason we don't use up our pages, it will roll over to the
next month and we can use it then, or you can easily change the plan that you're on.
They've got a really clever little HP app and it's super simple to change it. So in
the summer holidays, if we're using less, I'll just bring it right back down to the
$1.99 plan or to a bit of a lesser plan. Then on the app, they've got this really cool thing
called Play & Learn. And you can go onto the website as well. You
don't have to have an HP printer to go onto it, but it's such a good resource. It's called
the HP Print, Play & Learn website. And if you go onto it, they have loads of cool games.
They have loads of free printables, coloring pages, find the shape games, and things that
your kids can do around the house to help entertain them. So I would totally recommend
going on to it because it's completely free. You can just print off what you want to. Whereas,
you know, sometimes if you go to find some coloring pages to print, people will then
want you to subscribe to their websites or to their blog or something like that. This
is just so simple to use, and you can just print it out. Whatever Jackson wants to play
or do, it's been a really great resource. Yeah, so having HP Instant Ink has been incredibly
convenient for us because as soon as our ink levels are getting low, they'll just ship
out some more HP original cartridges. They'll just come to our door and it's done. I don't
have to think about it. It's one less thing to worry about. So if you guys are interested,
I will put all the links in the description down below, and I'll also link the website.
So now I'm going to go in to the boys, we're going to have a chat about things they want
to do in the future or any goals that they have. And then I'm going to print them out
on here and we can stick it to their vision board. So we're going to make something called
vision boards, or you can also call them dream boards-
I know what they are.
Because yeah, you basically put on all your big dreams and goals, things you want in the
future. And then the more you look at it, the more you focus and the more it's going
to happen. Yeah?
It's actually going to happen?
Yeah.
Well it's what you think about, you bring about, and it will happen because you'll be
thinking about it more and then you'll think, I should probably practice my football skills
if I want to be a footballer or I should probably do my gymnastics if I want to be a gymnast,
you know? So it helps you to make your dreams come true. So we need to think first, what
would you want on your vision board? It can be anything you want to do. Anywhere you want
to go. Anyone you want to meet. Anything, that's all.
I want to be a professional footballer.
Okay. What team?
Tottenham.
I want to be gymnast.
Who else?
You want to be a gymnast? And start lessons?
Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Yes.
Yeah, once lockdown is over, we definitely got to start lessons.
Yeah.
[crosstalk 00:08:31]
I'm bored.
Any places you'd like to go?
I'm bored.
You would like-
Bichon!
You would like a pet-
Bichon!
Oh, Bichon!
[inaudible 00:08:39].
A dog. So anywhere you'd like to go on holiday?
Oh damn it!
That's not to say that. Poo-land.
It's closed.
It's not a place.
Yes it is.
They're closed right now.
LEGOLAND would be on Jackson's one.
Yeah.
He loves LEGOLAND, doesn't he?
Mommy. [00:09:06] (singing)
How cool is that? [00:09:19] (singing)
So these are the boys' vision boards so far. This one over here is Caleb's. And this one
is Fraser's. I found this app where I could put their head onto another body. So because
Fraser would love to be a football player for Tottenham, we put his head onto Harry
Kane's and then Caleb's, he'd like to be a gymnast. So we did that for Great Britain.
Then Caleb really wants to go back to Punta Cana. He wants monkey bars and a trampoline
in the new house, apparently. And so funny, they both want this type of dog. It's called
a Bichon Frise and they saw it on TikTok, I think. And so they both wanted that on the
board. And Fraser put Fraser Island because he'd love to visit there. And then both of
them said they'd like to go back to school. And then I thought, oh, it would be good if
they got good grades. So then I chose this picture for going back to school. Caleb also
said he really wants to go ice skating and Fraser would love to be scouted for Colchester
United and yeah. Go back to school as well. So we're all done with homeschooling and our
activities. So now we're going to go to the park. It is about 2:00 PM. And we're meeting
my best friend and my godson as well, who is their friend. So they can just play together
in the park. It's a beautiful day. We've also got our little hover board with us. So yeah,
just going to go and have some fun. [00:11:03] (singing)
How are you feeling, having me around all the time, Mommy?
I've had enough. [00:11:26] (singing).
[inaudible 00:11:26] with ice cream. Hey!
Oh man.
[inaudible 00:11:26]
I would offer you mine but, can't have it.
Right, so we're home from the park now, and we had such a lovely time. Matt is just making
dinner. Tonight we're having wraps. So looking forward to that. Still a beautiful day outside.
And I might try and do a little bit of cleaning and also maybe do a TikTok. Because I just
hit 50K on TikTok. If you don't follow me, I'll put the link down below. But I feel like
I should put a celebration TikTok out there. I'm completely addicted. It's funny because
the boys are the ones that got me into it and were like, oh can we do a dance on TikTok?
Can we do a dance on TikTok? And now I'm like, please will you do a TikTok with me? And they're
like, no. So they've just created a monster, basically. But yeah, I'm just going to have
dinner and I might do a few chores
and stuff. [00:12:51]
Splash ball!
[inaudible 00:16:03] was actually real.
Oi!
[crosstalk 00:16:07] Let me try again. I can do it.
We need a bigger one for you boys, you're getting so, oh my gosh! Scary.
Watch! [inaudible 00:16:17]
Oof, mind your brother.
Mom-
So the two little ones have gone to bed now. Fraser's watching football. It's on again.
And Matt is just folding some laundry over here. Aren't you? Loving life. But yeah, I
think I'm going to end the blog here. Thank you so much for watching and I'll see you
in my next one. Bye, guys! Can you say bye?