CharlieBeth's "My Life As Mumma Walker"

If you know me you'll know I love any reason to celebrate and have some fun with the kids. Halloween has become such a kids thing too! When I was a kid living near Pendle Hill it was THE THING to do to go up Pendle Hill on Halloween! And now we live in Lancaster where the famous Pendle Witches met their fate.... It's hard not to want to have fun with it! ( Pendle Witches ) BUT... The kids are still a bit young for tramping up the Hill in the dark and the damp, and a bit too young to appreciate the history of Lancaster Castle, that'll be stuff I'll do with them when they are a bit older. This year we're going to visit the "Brick or Treat" experience at Lego Discovery in Manchester . I'll make a post on that later. What we have been doing is MAKING AND BAKING! We've made: Chocolate Apples Chocolate & Jelly Fangs Jelly Brains, Skulls and Cross Bones Gingerbread Halloween Shapes Red Velvet Graveyard Cake Card Halloween Characters Pump

Damn the two week wait (3 weeks in my case). Only 7dpo and I'm symptom spotting, day dreaming about pregnancy and babies, and generally doing all those annoying two week wait things I always wind up doing right before I get a BFN and visit from Aunt Flow. But since I'm already here and obsessing...! Take a look at this chart (sorry if you're not into charting, bare with me). This is a comparison of my basal body temperature on the cycles I got pregnant with Tom (green line) and George (purple line) and my currents cycle (blue). Remember a typical chart is low temps Pre ov, high temps post ov, and even higher temps between ov and expected AF if pregnant......? Well I have significantly higher temps post ov this cycle. This means is might have actually ovulated this time!!!! I am so excited! It's not suggesting that I'm pregnant, not yet. It's a bit early for that. But if I have ovulated then that gives me a chance. It would mean that the Agnus Castus is

Welcome to Magnificent Monday! Poor old Monday, the most hated day of the week... But Monday can be magnificent ! All it wants is to be liked !  Like this Monday by liking some new Facebook pages and making some new friends! CharlieBeth @ Life as Mumma Walker  &  Kate @ Family Fever Tweet   The Facebook Linky The Blog Linky By participating, linkers agree to be added to the blog.family-walker.co.uk email newsletter list, but don't worry, I wont spam you! I'll just email you invitations to linkups. You can opt out at any time

I do love my social networks - you might have noticed that already what with the social media buttons, link parties, FB page and G+ community. I've stumbled across a new one that is looking for beta testers. Are you interested in being one of the first people to establish a presence on it too? It's called NINOFF - which means "No I'm No On Frickin Facebook" (although I clearly am, and I'm guessing most of you are too). It's big sell is it's privacy and lack of in-your-face advertising. You can find out more about that here on their site: ninoff.com As a blogger I am keen to get in on this, meet other bloggers, and maybe increase my own followers. I'm certainly glad I started using Google+ earlier this year, wouldn't it be nice to add Ninoff to my catchment! So... Want to sign up as a beta tester? It's simple. Go on over to ninoff.com , read what they have to say, and then down at the bottom of the page is the beta tester sign up (de

I should have started this a few weeks ago, I know. But with the office move, Jack's Neil Armstrong project and the blog move too I simply didn't get round to it! There's so much slipping away at the moment that I am struggling to keep up! SO... this should give me the kick up the bum I need to get things going again - it is the half term holidays after all so some of the big stuff has to happen this week! These are the things I am determined to get done before Winter officially starts on Dec 21st - mainly because that is WAY TOO CLOSE TO CHRISTMAS to start a lot of our festive crafts, and we still have Halloween and Guy Fawkes between now and then. October: Visit Lego Discovery in Manchester in the school holidays Make Halloween biscuits and cake Carve pumpkins! November: Buy our own fireworks for Guy Fawkes and have the Hubby set them off for us Make toffee or chocolate apples Go for a woodland walk and kick up some leaves! December: Make Christma

I saw this over on a bloggy friends post ( check it out and link up ) and thought it was a lovely idea to keep my mood up with the whole TTC thing. So here we go, in no particular order, 10 things to be thankful for: There is a good chance that we know what our Secondary Fertility is caused by, and fixing it should be simple once we get to the clinic Our doctor is very understanding and is really trying hard to help us get to the clinic According to my blood tests, my body is TRYING to do what it should Hubby's sample has come back normal! This cycle seems more normal than the previous few - still long but a more normal pattern (thanks to Angus Castus supplements?) I got Crosshairs on my Fertility Friend chart this week (suggesting I might have actually ovulated this cycle) they moved today and gave me a score of "low" instead of "good", but a score is still a score! Even after 12 years together we're still into each other enough to enjoy this whol

I got a call from my lovely doctor lady this afternoon! Hubby's results are in and they are normal! Which after the stress and drama of sample day is just simply brilliant! As she spoke to me she was filling in our form for the fertility clinic! I am soooo excited! It's a good week all round. Fertility Friend gave me crosshairs yesterday, and we've been having lots of fun doing the ol' baby dance so we score a "good". I can't help thinking how awesome it would be to fall pregnant naturally this month! I just need that little eggy to have turned up. Everything else is in our favour! I've been taking my Agnus Castus caps morning and night, so with a bit of luck....! And even if I'm not preg this time, that fertility clinic appointment is looking closer and closer!

Welcome to the Pin it Party! Let's keep it simple: Link up any posts you have that you would like to have shared on Pinterest Follow my boards CharlieBeth79 Check out and pin other party linkies - as many as you can! Follow as many of the other party linkies as you can Follow this party's board and wait to see your post get pinned! HERE I'd especially love to see great blog posts with pics, recipes, DIY, crafting, reviews, blogging advice, beauty & fashion. That said, it's pretty much rules free, but please remember that mine is a parenting blog so don't share something which might be seen as too offensive! The Button: You don't have to take one, but it's there if you want it! Tweet <br><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHQP_Mt5eCt-Gr0lDwqjlvF_R5dSvbDf9hz8kid7vz77b23BKsHjUKhtgrSKtvxn18KmsDOsiBjYQ8532p6JVoWwusByXPVz0iila9i4J_dK5tewSKN_BeZ_9D1QGYSa1L4N9aeA/s200/PinItPart

Facebook have been making some changes to how you see the posts made from pages you "like", basically to encourage people like us (bloggers) and other Facebook Page owners to pay for boosts to their posts. That's ok for companies, but for bloggers like us it makes sharing posts difficult. We miss seeing others posts, and other people miss ours. Here's how to help! When you "like" a page - or when you visit a page you already "like" hold your cursor over the "like" button. A little menu shows up. Click "Get Notifications" if you want new posts to show up in your notifications, and click "Show in News Feed" it make sure you get each post in your feed. If you like to be more organised and have all your bloggy friends posts in one place you can click "Add to Interest Lists" You can make a new list by clicking "+ New List".  You can see I've already made a Blog Buddies list. That'

Image from http://attainfertility.com/article/semen-analysis There's a saying you probably know. "What can go wrong, will go wrong". Today is Hubby's sample day. Naturally, anything involving my darling husband has to be fraught with problems! He is an endless supply of drama for me! First off he's worried about the size of him sample. "Not much came out!" he says to me. It wasn't overflowing the pot and he's concerned they won't have enough to work with. We'd deliberately abstained yesterday in the hopes of getting a good sample. Let's put it down to performance anxiety! And anyway, having never measured it before I have nothing to compare it too! So I looked it up, and it might be a bit on the low side. I'm sure it'll be fine though (and if not, that might actually work in our favor re getting seen by the clinic!) Then it was the mad rush to get it to the hospital lab within an hour! We don't live far away, bu

This week there is good news, bad news, and panic worthy news! Good news is WE FINISHED THE PLANETS & ROCKET! Jack loves his pipe cleaner rings, and I love how he's chosen to mainly decorate the red bits and leave most of the blue, it looks like a super continent and a huge blue ocean! Our version of Apollo 11 is almost indistinguishable from the real deal! (well, maybe not quite, but it does look funky). Actually, I think they ALL look fab, and I finally get them out of my kitchen and off to school which is a bonus I'm NOT going to complain about! The bad news is that we've LOST the Scrap book!!! Me and the Hubby turned the house upside-down looking for it but it has vanished into thin air. So I'm going to have to help Jack knock another one up before Museum Day on Wednesday. Easily done, but we have no more Planet stickers so it wont be quite as good. Jack's not very bothered, but I'm gutted! And the Panic .... On Thursday morning I heard from

IT'S SWAP FORCE DAY! I have been planning today for some time. In fact, I wrote most of this post a few days ago so that it would not interfere with the actual day (although since Skylanders is a two player game and at least 3 of us want to play at any one time I will no doubt wind up on here waiting for my "turn"). We are SO in to Skylanders. Today is the day that Swap Force finally got released in the UK. It's been the hot topic of conversation in this house for weeks, months even, but this week we've been counting the sleeps until Swap Force. And today we  have..... Starter Kit which has been on pre-order for delivery for MONTHS Dark Edition  which was an after thought coz me and the Hubby really wanted the limited edition characters. 4 Swappables 1 Non-swabbable 2 FREE LC Hex (one with each version, stashed one away) 1 FREE Giant! (put away for Christmas) Adventure Pack (put away for Christmas) Battle Pack (put away for Christmas) I promis

I'm making some changes....  Firstly welcome to my NEW web address! blog.family-walker.co.uk AND This is the LAST Friendly Friday! But new linky parties will come soon so don't go too far away! Tweet   It's a Friday Blog Hop & Link Up but it runs all weekend so you have plenty of time to get your links up and meet some other lovely bloggers. You can post just about anything, but please remember mine is mainly a parenting blog so please keep your posts reasonably family friendly. I wont block you for a bit of swearing but posting anything really offensive will get you the boot. It's not fair to others who follow the rules. The Rules! Follow your Host at    CharlieBeth aka Mumma Walker   and  Mumma Walker Tries for a Girl Follow the Featured Blogger (below) Check out & link up / follow as many other bloggers as you can it only works if you remember to follow others. Please don't just link up and leave.  When you read a p

I am taking the plunge! I am leaving charliebeth.blogspot.com and moving to blog.family-walker.co.uk! I'm going to try to make the move on Monday, after Friendly Friday has ended for this week (actually, it's going to be the LAST Friendly Friday, so make sure you don't miss it!) and expect that I might be missing in action for a few days. But I will be back! I might even give the whole thing a nice new design while I'm at it! So the linky will be up and running tomorrow, a little later than normal but here.... and then I guess I'll see you all on the other side! Wish me luck!

I was back at the doctors again today to get my blood test results back. They're "normal" which suggests that I am at least producing the right hormones at the start of my cycle. And yet I'm not showing any signs of ovulating yet. If my cycle was "normal" I would have had a temp rise earlier this week, but I haven't. I'm showing no signs of ov at all. Pic from sellesmedical.co.uk Lovely Doc is trying to push for the clinic for us. Just one more test.... His test. I love how the doc explained this too me! She handed me a tube for Hubby to fill and explained that it needs to "all go in the tube, quantity counts!" and that we need to get it to the lab at the hospital within the hour of the sample being produced - the earlier the better. And too keep it warm. "Don't shove it in your handbag, it needs to be in your hand or pocket, or better still, tuck it inside your bra!" The look on my poor Hubby's face when I told

Anyone who knows our little family will now that we are Skylanders obsessed. Even wee Georgie who pipes up "Why-wan-wer" when ever he sees the logo or a character from the game on ANYTHING. The kids have Skylanders lunch boxes, and PJs, and a collection of figures of their own as well as the communal ones the whole family uses. I'll admit that me and the Hubby have our own collection too. It's driving us BONKERS that we (Europe) are the last ones to get Swapforce... We hav e to wait until the 18th Oct (Yes, I know that's only Friday, but we've been waiting for this since Spring!) All over Facebook and Twitter I am seeing folk make posts and share pictures of all their new figures, the new game, clips of gameplay and reviews. While all we can do is stare at the character lists and dream about which ones we're going to buy (make that "buy first", we'll wind up with them all eventually) and watch endless YouTube clips, drooling. I've g

This is something I've been thinking about doing for AGES and so many other bloggers I read have already done this.... committing to a Domain Name! So instead of being charliebeth.blogspot.com I could be charliebeth.com or something along those lines, but not actually that, it's already gone. I have some ideas for what it would actually be, and some prices offered already which are reasonable. But it's a big step. Am I ready for it? I've been on this URL for over 10 years now and I admit I am a little scared of changing it in case everything goes horribly horribly wrong and I lose everything I've written for the last decade! I don't think I could stand that. But on the other hand, having my own domain would be great! I get the impression that companies looking for bloggers to review their products and host giveaways are more interested in the people who have made that commitment and spent that money, it looks that bit more professional. So I guess wha

It's getting tricky now to keep Jack interested in this project. This is the 4th week we have been working on it, and it's getting to the "wrap it up" stage. Although, to be fair, he's done really well and was excited about painting his planet this weekend, even if that is as far as we got. He's getting fed up of waiting for things to dry, saying it feels like that's all we've done. He's itching to get it finished and take it all the school for the last week before the holidays. Tom enlisted Daddy to help paint his balloon a kind of coral pink/orange colour, Jack painted his red and blue and had me help cover up some of the "tricky" bits. They look fab. They are very different from each other. Tom's could almost be Mars with it's colouring and carefully bended edges. Jack's is very striking with a large vivid red continent brightly contrasting against the blue of the ocean. The next stage is to coat them both in green gl

Tweet   It's a Friday Blog Hop & Link Up but it runs all weekend so you have plenty of time to get your links up and meet some other lovely bloggers. You can post just about anything, but please remember mine is mainly a parenting blog so please keep your posts reasonably family friendly. I wont block you for a bit of swearing but posting anything really offensive will get you the boot. It's not fair to others who follow the rules. The Rules! Follow your Host at    CharlieBeth aka Mumma Walker   and  Mumma Walker Tries for a Girl Follow the Featured Blogger (below) Check out & link up / follow as many other bloggers as you can it only works if you remember to follow others. Please don't just link up and leave.  When you read a post by someone else that you like make sure you click "like" on the hop! Each "like" is a vote and the post (or posts) with the most likes gets to be the FEATURED BLOGGER on the next hop! Not a rule, but a