The Oliver's Madhouse

Project 365 Week 5 of 2015

Posted on January 31, 2015 by Jaime

This week has been a really great week for us with lots of family time and fun and moving forward.

Saturday 24th January - After taking part in a challenge with SodaStream I found out not only do I need to drink more water but I am loving Elderflower cordial in fizzy water! … although an evening with friends after this only went to prove its not just the non alcoholic bubbles I like … oops

Sunday 25th January - Some outdoor fun for the boys .. they are loving playing football together recently and it’s so lovely to watch

Monday 26th January - Some adult time with Ollie being off work and the kids off to nursery/school .. It was a good film but to say it was following on from the previous 2 there were some inconsistencies.

Tuesday 27th January – This is my first batch of cheese scones made from scratch that I blogged over on notTHATJaimeOliver.com this week

Wednesday 28th January – Lots of fantastic phone calls throughout the day, followed by some finally proper playtime on my new toy with its new covers!

Thursday 29th January – After cancelling my plans to meet a friend I had lost touch some time ago and with inconsiderate snow it will have to be next week I finally catch up with her .. Joshua and I had some snuggles and sleep

Friday 30th January – Finally the snow didn’t stop me meeting my other friend for a few hours as we took the children to play centre to burn off some energy … I am glad I waited to buy our cases as the ones I wanted when we called in on the way home and they were buy one get one free! … we are now set for our holidays this year!

So how about you … what have you been up to this week?

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Posted in Family, Life, Linky, Project 365 | Tagged Cheese Scones, Cinema, Nintendo, Project 365, Suitcases | 1 Comment

Active Family – Geocaching Planning Our First Journey

Posted on January 29, 2015 by Jaime

Over the last year or so I have seen some fantastic adventures from others while they take their families Geocacing locally and around the country such as Elaine from Fun as Gran who can often be found Geocaching and writing about her Geocaching adventures and being lovers of getting out in the fresh air and with the promise of having a go … we will have never been.

So this coming week I am going to finally bite the bullet and I am planning our very first adventure.

Perhaps the child in me is still fascinated with treasure hunts and exploring and so with my love of technology and treasure hunts I really don’t know why I haven’t done this before!

Having signed up and logged in I am shocked to find 17 basic Geocaches in my village and on the outskirts of the next village … and with lots showing for the more advanced caches too I think there maybe many more adventures to be had.

I am hoping Joshua loves it too as everyone needs a sidekick don’t they? And what a great way for him to grow up, quality time, outside and exercise, triple bonus!

If you would like to join in with Active Family feel free to link up there are no set criteria. If its active and its about your family, be it your children, your aunt or your whole family, inside or out, walking, running, jumping, biking, at the gym, or running laps of the living room, or even something more adventurous feel free to add the badge and link up and share. (If you would like more information you can find it HERE)

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Posted in Active Family, Out & About | Tagged Adventure, Geocaching, Household & Health Reviews, Outdoors | 6 Comments

Katie Price Has Opinions Divided Over Council Funding School Transport

Posted on January 28, 2015 by Jaime

Anyone that knows me personally will know that I do not like the majority of what Katie Hopkins has to say, pretty much every time she opens her mouth … However an argument this week between Katie Hopkins and Katie Price has left me feeling gobsmacked that for once at least in part, I have to agree with Katie Hopkins.

It was reported via the Telegraph yesterday that Katie Price and Katie Hopkins clashed over the fact tax payers foot the bill for Katie Prices son Harvey to get to and from the specialist school in London. Katie Price also claimed it would cost her £1,000 a day to get Harvey to School and so for Katie Hopkins to think she should fund this out of her own pocket Katie Price responded with “’Do you know how f***ing expensive that would be? Ridiculous”

Currently transport for Children with disabilities is protected via Education law, to ensure that every child with a disability can get the schooling support they need. So legally by allowing the local council to fund this transport she is not doing anything wrong in the eyes of the law, but for me this is morally wrong.

Katie Hopkins, responded with “if you can afford to pay for something you should pay for it and you shouldn’t rely on the government, I think that’s wrong.” And I have to say as much as it chokes me to say it …. Well Done Katie Hopkins!

Personally I think it’s disgusting that a large percentage of folks in this country think about entitlement instead of morality.

So for me lets start at the beginning, many families with children who face disability both mentally and physically have more to pay out in terms of accessing support for their child and for me yes, they should have the financial support they need, however Katie Price is a multimillionaire and when she bought her current property (miles from the school Harvey needs to attend) she chose that knowing that the distance was excessive … she obviously did not consider the commute, time, nor cost .. She has the funds to purchase a home anywhere without batting an eyelid at the cost compared to many who have no such option. Not to mention a biological father that what ever the choice is for access, he should still be financially supporting his son too? … Again no small earner there.

I think the top and bottom of this for me is that Katie Price is obviously legally taking a service on offer for her Son, but should we be questioning if this is fair instead of blaming her, after all the goverment says she is entitled?

No doubt people will be divided on opinions .. But for me I feel there has to be some sort of means testing before the country is drained due to entitlement?

What are you views?

Photo Credit:

fireballk2588 on flicker

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Posted in Feelings, Jaime, Rant | Tagged Debate, Katie Hopkins, School Transport | 24 Comments

Review: Handheld Label Printer (PT-H105)

Posted on January 27, 2015 by Jaime

Now for some the thought of a Label Printer may not be exciting, however for me this week I have been really pleased we had this one.

For quite some time I have been threatening to reorganise my Kitchen cupboards and to finally get all the baking and pantry items into some super funky storage glass jars I bought from Habitat.

My problem had been that I hate handwritten labels and my only other option was chalk pens .. Until the Brother Handheld Label Printer arrived!

I have to say I was rather excited to give it ago as I have a whole load of accounts folders to tackle, along with some books and even the cupboards in the sheds!

First thing I noticed when reading the instructions was that there is more than meets the eye with this handheld labeller! With tape widths of 3.5mm, 6mm, 9mm & 12mm available along with different colours options, you can really customise your labels!
This machine has a full A-Z keyboard, 7 Frame Styles, 177 Symbols, 3 Character Sizes Built-In tape cutter and 9 Font Styles all from this one machine.

I found this machine really simple to work, simple to change and alter fonts, sizes and add in the extra symbols. It only took a matter of minutes to get all our labels done for the kitchen, however I have to say with more storage canisters on the way I can’t wait to get the labeller out again and finally finish off this job that’s been hanging over me for weeks.

I must admit part of my wishes I was good at crafting and such too as these labels would be fab for those of the more imaginative than I, however I am off to label the toys … so it’s not just business or craft .. I have found my new organisational implement … although Beth has her eyes on it for her School books so I may just have to hide it!

Disclaimer: This product was given to us for the purposes of giving an honest review. All Opinions in this review were independently formed by members of The Oliver’s Madhouse

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Posted in Home, Household & Health Reviews, Reviews | Tagged Brother, Handheld, Label, Review | 14 Comments

Staying Safe With A Carbon Monoxide Alarm Plus Giveaway

Posted on January 26, 2015 by Jaime

It’s that time of the year again and If your house is anything like ours the central heating will be taking a battering.

However did you know that here in the UK more than 200 people each year go to hospital with suspected carbon monoxide poisoning and worse than that 40 people every year will die! Well, until 8 years ago I didn’t know either!

8 years ago I bought my first house, packed up the rented house and shifted my world and my possession into what was to be my pride and joy… my first owned home.

After the removals moved out it was time for baths and bed, As I drifted off to sleep I felt nothing but excitement and contentment at what was to come in this lovely new home.

What I did not expect was being woken 2 hours later by a box downstairs going crazy.

On investigating it was the old carbon monoxide alarm that I had *cough cough* inadvertently packed from the rented house we had just left.

So being the middle of the night and knowing the alarm was thrown about in a box for a couple of hours and was left outside in the cold for most of that day I presumed it was playing up and so reset it and popped it on the mantlepiece.

Less than 10 minutes later it was going nuts once more and at that point I began to panic. After some box destruction trying to find the yellow pages (this was before I had a phone with internet) I gave the National Grid’s Gas Emergency number a call I really thought perhaps its me and they are going to think I am being silly and charge me maybe for wasting their time.

How wrong could I have been, after giving them the story I was instructed to get every person in the house, outside, open all the doors and window and to under no circumstances to go back inside.

After a very cold wait in the car on the drive (well it was November) even if it was for only 35 minutes, it only took a few minutes for the engineer to condemn our boiler on the spot.. the remaining time he was there he was capping off gas supply so we couldn’t use it again.

Another 6 weeks of no boiler followed, but however inconvenient it was for us at that time I have always been incredibly grateful that our carbon monoxide alarm saved us from the silent killer.

I am pleased to say however that CORGI HomePlan are campaigning for every home to get a carbon monoxide alarm and I have to say for me this is one campaign that without a doubt has my support!

We were lucky but we had a carbon monoxide alarm … Do you?

Competition:

Here is the chance to win one of three carbon monoxide alarms I am giving away on behalf of CORGI HomePlan, so three lucky winners will have peace of mind for them and their family.

All you have to do is follow the Rafflecopter directions below to be in with a chance of winning, although it is for UK residents .. full terms and conditions can be found at the bottom of the Rafflecopter widget.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Posted in Competition, Home | Tagged Carbon Monoxide Alarm, Competition, home, Safety | 9 Comments

Magic Moments 26/1/15

Posted on January 26, 2015 by Jaime

Happy Monday!

Thank you to everyone that linked up last week, I need to send you cyber hugs and cake as I have not yet made it over to you, however I have a reading catch up day later this week and your on it!

So let’s get the magic moments rolling for another week and dont forget the new Twitter hname … @JaimeOliverUK so if your new here just to let you know you are welcome to tweet me your link throughout the week and I will happily retweet you throughout the week, but please only tweet me with your #MagicMoments post link. As much as I would love to share all you posts written in the week there are only so many hours in a day.

Don’t forget there is a Magic Moments page on Googlefollow+ to, so if you are on G+ feel free to pop over and add your link and visit too.

If you are new to Magic Moments you can find more information over HERE.

Don’t forget that linkys only work when people take the time to visit and share with others. With such a large crowd linking in please don’t think you have to comment on every one. I know many of you don’t have time for this and it’s unrealistic, however please visit as many as you can manage to share some love and build community spirit.

If you would like to join in I would love it if you would pop on the Magic Moments badge or a link back to me as it also helps others to see where you are linking up and they may decided to pop over and link up too! Remember the more people who take part and link up, the more people who are likely to visit, but this is only a polite request not a prerequisite.