Moshi Monsters/Club penguin/binweevils

http://www.moshimonsters.com
http://play.clubpenguin.com/
http://www.binweevils.com/

My Name is Cat, I am 29 and I have a confession to make, I have an addiction, No it's not drugs, it's not alcohol, (although I am partial to the odd glass or ten of red) it's to children's online gaming!



I know it's not really a restaurant or place but  my two sons will choose this over going out 9 out of ten times, especially if they can have £5 each to buy a membership instead of us using it to pay to go out!

They have been playing on these games (mainly Moshi monsters at the minute) for about 2 years now and although I had a look and checked on what they are doing,(ever the dutiful mother....) I never actually bothered playing on them, however in recent days I agreed to help one of them "get a medal at the disco" (although this turns out to be as hard as getting through a day without any tantrums), needless to say I haven't achieved it yet but as Homer Simpson once said "trying is the first step towards failure!"
However I will persevere until I get the damn medal, and maybe have a look round and buy some food, and some decor for the house, and a design and a.................................

They have games and challenges which are quite educational, and help children with their social skills as they are online communities

They also teach children the value of money through using "rox" (Moshi Monsters) "Mulch" (bin weevils) or coins (Club penguin) which you need to save in order to buy food for your monster/penguin to keep them happy and healthy and also to buy gifts for other users or even designs and ornaments for your "house", which should come in handy in later life!

You can also own pets like puffles (Club penguin) or Moshlings (Moshi Monsters) which you have to look after or put some effort into keeping.

It's also a brilliant money making venture for whoever thought these things up as the amount of merchandise I have been conned into buying is ridiculous but the kids LOVE it! and  so do I!

Sudden death

Today I learnt I am going to die, we all know we are going to die one day, however I never imagined a website would so cruelly predict my untimely demise.

We've all done it, you don't feel well, or you have found an odd growth or rash so rather than go to the professionals, as they're "fully booked" or you need to ring 3 months before you are ill to let them know you are going to be ill in order to get an appointment, or just omaybe your a man, so instead we choose to google it.

I woke up last night, or to rephrase, the dog made me get out of bed at stupid o clock so he could relieve himself.
While waiting for him to sniff every item in our garden to decide if it was privileged enough for him to cock his leg against my nose began to bleed. Heavily, My 5am logic told me to leave the door wide open, letting as much cold as I possibly could in and rather than go to the downstairs bathroom a few steps away for some tissue, go up the white carpeted stairs to the upstairs bathroom and make my partner get out of bed to get the dog back in and shut the door.

It lasted about 10 mins which in nose bleeding times is quite long but in 5am nose bleeding times it's bleeding (get it) ages!!
This then happened another 3 times during the day while at work, which led me to google "recurrent nose bleeds in an adult in one day" (I like to be specific)
This led to me all kinds of scary information such as "caused by eye hemorrhage" vitamin K deficiency and it could be due to cirrhosis!!

Luckily there's is this tinsy little voice in my head (which I choose mainly to ignore) called common sense, It told me that it is very unlikely to be any of these and probably more likely due to the little cold I have,  *male translation-man flu.

So I learnt 3 things today

1. Don't google illnesses

2. Don't believe everything you read (unless it's on Wo-manvsfood)

3 I'm not going to die (yet)

Phew!!

.

Never judge a book by its' cover!

When I was younger I adored the Disney film "Beauty and the Beast", not because of the love story or happy ending like most girls, no, because Belle loved to read, like I did, and she was beautiful and feisty and so clearly that meant that I must be too...............................

A few years ago (mainly due to having children and no money, I had to become inventive in the options I had to occupy two young boys) I have started going back to the library and taking my children with me because it was free and surprisingly we could spend quite a few hours in there.

Both my boys absolutely love the library (so far) this will probably change once they get to their teenage years,

There is so much to do now compared to when I was younger and you could just borrow books.

Now most libraries have a children's corner, where you can sit and read with them, or depending on their age or reading ability they can read themselves, There are often toys for them to play with and also pens and paper to draw, a lot of libraries also do children's clubs, where they can listen to a story from a story teller or do arts and crafts.

 There are computers with Internet access for children, young people and adults.(So while your child is reading you can sit and google your name or something.) You can even borrow Cd's or DVDs for a small fee, and of course there are all different kinds of books for all age ranges.

There's also the added bonus of the possibility of hearing an elderly person ask the librarian if she has that book "about face, which he's been hearing about a lot" !

They are not just there to be used for boring homework or research, if you are trying to think of something cheap and easy to do consider a library and you may be unexpectedly surprised

Lakeside Inn formerly known as Bobby Shaftos!

After waking with an ailment more commonly known as man flu, I made the heroic gesture of keeping a promise and taking my family to Whitworth Hall.

As Christmas is fast approaching we thought it would be kind of us to help Santa out and take the children to feed his reindeer, Luckily today no tantrums about cheese,pineapple or otherwise ensued so it was plain sailing driving all the way.

As soon  as we got there we went into the play area to buy our duck and reindeer food which is £1 a bag, and it is worth bearing in mind that even 1 bag per person does not last very long!
If you plan on taking some of your own food to feed the duck or deer,(picnics for human people are not allowed!) you are warned not to feed the deer apples as these can be very poisonous to them.

We walked into the grounds and all the ducks were out of the pond and wandering around so the children chose to feed these first, they soon got bored and we then went to the deer park.

Usually you can go inside and wander around with the deer walking with you (like over there)-> but today due to the weather it was extremely muddy, so if you plan to go inside it is advisable to wear wellies.

Today we stood outside the gates while the deer stuck there heads out the gate and took the food from our hands, so children of a more nervous disposition may not enjoy it so much!

It is also advisable to take some wet wipes or for the OCD of us some anti bac gel as your hands end up covered in mud from the deer!

After the strenuous activity of feeding other animals we ventured to the restaurant for some food of our own.

On a Sunday they serve a carvery which is £7.95 per adult and £5.95 per child and as a family well accustomed to carvery or two due to having two of the most fussy eaters ever, one who only eats meat and potatoes-and then whinges at the children for not eating their veg, and another who wont eat anything on his plate if any kind of potato has touched it, a normal Sunday lunch just isn't an nice easy day out!

You are given a generous portion if meat,too much for my liking (so half  then goes to the man of the house.......................................the 8 year old) and then there are plenty of vegetable to chose from, we were all far too stuffed for desserts so I am afraid I can't comment on those.

The day lasted around 2 hours and cost £40 in total so it's not the cheapest of days but it was well worth the money and the excitement leading up to Christmas and very worth the two very tired boys!

Now we can all rest easy that Santa's reindeer are well fed ready for that long journey coming up :)

Oops, how did that get in here?!

Men REALLY don't listen!

I would just like to share with you a conversation I had with my partner last night, as we are both hard working people, we try to have a "family day" every weekend, where we go out or do something as a family.

My sister has very kindly bought us tickets to Mini Moos as a Christmas gift  (review to follow,) and we had also agreed to take children to feed the deer at Whitworth hall (another review to follow) before Christmas and so I was trying to explain to my partner that there are only two more Sundays until Christmas day and the mini moos tickets are only valid from 17th December which means we need to go to Whitworth hall this Sunday coming, the Mini moo's the week after.

He listened intently (or so I thought) nodding in all the right places and agreeing with what I said.

Now I will share the text conversation we had today (the morning after!)

Partner : We might have to go to Mini Moos this Sunday

Me : why?? how??

Partner : Then go to Whitworth Hall the week after

Me : This is what I was explaining last night, I'd prefer to go there this Sunday but as tickets are only valid from 17th we can't!

Partner : We'll have to go on the 18th then

exasperated sigh

Later....


Partner : There's only two Sundays left before Christmas

Me : Oh my goodness do you LISTEN to anything I say??????????


I then went into the office kitchen in order to make myself a cup of tea (as we all know tea solves everything), I had my back to the door and was mistaken for someone else, the lady I was mistaken for took great glee in this and proudly announced

 "Eehhh did you think that was me Edna, eeehh thanks, she must be 20 years younger than me, I'm 76"  !!!!!!!

After seeing my face, she then retracted this comment and said

"sorry pet I mean 40 years younger"

I'm 29!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I've obviously been worn out by my partner!

Who's idea was it to have children?

Have you ever had that complete gut wrenching dread that you are ...........................................TURNING INTO YOUR PARENTS??!!, well recently I have... Remember when you were young and your parents use to say, wait until you are older and have children, then you'll understand. Well now I am older and have children I hate to admit it but now I understand,every day I find history repeating itself and those old classic phrases cominmg out to play. For instance I totally remember having a massive tantrum when I was around 8 years old because my Mam wouldn't let me have any peanuts, I jumped up and down on my bed (cos obviously I wasn't allowed and so this would show her the error of her ways) and told her when I got older I will let my children have peanuts for breakfast dinner and tea if they wanted, to which she replied that old catchphrase above! Recently I have ended up 20 minutes late for work due to my youngest offspring having a tantrum over cheese. He wanted a block of cheese for breakfast, I said no, and so a screaming hissy fit of "I WANT CHEESE NOW, YOU ARE JUST NASTY, I DON'T LIKE TO EAT ANYTHING EXCEPT CHEESE" began. Now, if you have never had to explain to your boss that you are late due to cheese, you can never imagine the facial reaction I received. If you have read part of my other blog you will also have seen that my schedule had also been ruined by the same child due to pineapple. (he'd got over the cheese) I am not entirely sure why it always seems to be food based reasons that hinder my plans but hey ho, I guess that's the way life goes! On another occassion I arrived at work with my classy carrier bag with my lunch in, only to find at dinner time, to my dismay that it had been replaced and instead of lunch I had a Ben 10 colouring book, some crayons and a toy from Mcdonalds, which resulted in the phrase "bloody kids" Today I was asked, when I was young were yo yo's invented? "yes" I replied,to which they queried "but were they made from wood cos plastic wasn't invented then was it?", I am 29!! However, I can recall asking my Grandma if she was alive when dinosaurs were alive and wondered why she laughed so much at me! I have also had to use that old "it will end in tears" recently when I caught them sliding down the stairs in their sleeping bags, only to find their step dad following them down in a sleeping bag! But then there are some things I don't remember ever saying to my parents, like my recent conversation with my 8 year old which went like this :  "Er Mam, I am really sorry I forgot to tell you this, but I am actually a vampire", As you can imagine I was pleased we got that cleared up sooner than later, I can only suggest that my parents and my upbringing must be to blame for my children's weirdness sometimes. (I ate some garlic just in case) But even though they are cheeky, noisy and ask their stepdad if they can keep me in the loft, Just like my parents- I wouldn't change them for the world! :P

Cruising for chicks!

 "

Blue Reef Aquarium Tynemouth

Today mainly due to watching our pennies before Christmas and also because we had been bought some tickets as a gift which were due to expire we decided to go to the Blue reef Aquarium in Tynemouth.

After a tantrum over pineapple and hair gel much excitement ensued from the children, not because we were going to a place where they could see the wonders of the sea, no no, because of a tunnel...., yes that's right, we had to go through the Tyne tunnel in order to get there, and pay £1.20 each way for the privilege!, as you can imagine when we got there they were bitterly disappointed.

But that's ok because they LOVED the Blue Reef even though it only took around 30 mins to walk around, our tickets were valid all day so we could leave and come back if we wanted.

There were plenty of different fish and sea dwelling creatures, including two amorous crabs, which led to the very naive comment from my boys of "ha ha look at those crabs giving piggy backs!"
For older children and (big children like me), there are descriptions of each fish/sea creature and their habitats and history which is quite interesting, but not really suitable for younger children.

There is even an amazonian feature which encloses pgymy marmosets and cotton topped tamarins which are brilliant to watch.

There are also otters there called Splash and Gizmo, who were very entertaining playing with each other, but not as entertaining as the seals, We were lucky enough to be right behind a children's party when we went to see them and got to see them jumping and waving which made up for the fact it was freezing outside the enclosure where we were

So overall a good day out, which can also be educational and interesting, unfortunately if paying yourself it's quite expensive, as it's £8.30 per adult and £5.95 for children although you can buy family tickets. You also have to pay 60p per hour for parking and depending on weather, you could have a walk on the beach, otherwise I would say you only need around 1-2 hours-maybe less.

More fun than the tyne tunnel at least.

Alpha Hair and Beauty Sacriston

I did something I haven't done in a long time yesterday, I threw abandon to the wind and entered a hairdressers.
Since I was 9 I have had really long hair (after growing out my chin length bob) and so don't venture to the hairdressers much, also taken in to the equation is the fact my sister is a qualified hairdresser, however for anyone that does not have a coiffer gifted sibling, this is not always a good thing!

They are nothing like the pleasant gentle people they are in the salon, there's no asking if you are going on holiday, Instead you're hair is yanked and pulled, your scalp is scratched and you are shouted at constantly, and you can't even put a complaint in at the end!

So you are left in a difficult situation, it is frowned upon for you to go to a hairdressers as though you are saying that your sibling is not good enough, or you just shut up and put up!

Anyway it turned out to be the best thing I had done in ages, the hairdresser, or hair technician as they prefer to be called these days, named Jason, was like a creative hair technician genuis!

My hair is naturally curly but I have never managed to make it look better than an advert for friz-eeze-the before picture!

Jason told me he would cut my hair into layers in order for my hair to curl easier as the length was pulling it down
Now I am very use to these false promises, however it actually turned out to be true on this occassion!

You know when you walk away from a hairdressers you will NEVER get that style again, (if it's one you like!), but I woke up today and my hair literally fell into place, in lovely ringlet curls.

I can only guess that this actually may have something to do with the haircut-impressive!

I will most certainly be going back and using them again but shhhhh please don't tell my sister!

Crazy Kingdom

As it is my sons birthday in two days and we weren't having a party for him, which seems to be the "in" thing these days, (and the modern way to compete with other parents!) we let him chose where he wanted to go.

He chose crazy kingdom at Anfield plain, so we off we set at 11am, 30 mins behind our "schedule" for the day, due to said child "not being able to walk in jeans" and due to us being "the nastiest parents ever" for making him get out of bed in order to go out for HIS birthday...., he's turning 8 not 13!

Once we were there we paid in, prices range, As mine are both over 5 they are  £4.10 each for 2 hours play, Then we went to find seats, there are some comfy leather seats which seem to always be free whenever we go in so we sat there, and there are also newspapers on hand to read, After around 30 mins of sitting on the comfy seats I realised why they are always free, the bowling alley is directly above, so if you feel you need more noise than lots of children running round and screaming, these seats are THE place to be!

The children went to play in the play area, which is quite a decent size if you compare it to places like Brewsters, and as well as the usual indoor ball pit/slide combo has things like, a climbing wall, football cage, Netball nets, mini trampolines and of course the extra money making machines that are impossible to win on!

While I endured the noise of the roof caving in and screaming banshees, I remembered that old phrase "a cup of tea solves everything", because no matter what the situation, someone's upset, someone's fallen over, or been knocked over or dies, everyone ALWAYS offers you a cup of tea!#

So after a quick glance at the menu, off I went to the "cafe" at the front, and ordered my £1.10 cup of tea and a pakcet of 20p Space raiders, (random combination but at the time I felt it worked), and was charged £1.45....?, I wasn't in the mood to argue over 15p so just left it at that, and I have a feeling a saw a sign mentioning that the menu was changing or being updated so it's worth being aware of this if you visit in the near future.

After tasting my tea I realised I must of recently become a tea connoisseur, cos it was horrible!
On a previous occassion we ordered our offspring some food which arrived cold and even though they will usually eat most things put in front of them, they refused to risk it.

There always seems to be a party on and this occassion was no exception, but just playing on their own without any friends from school the children lasted around an hour playing before coming over and asking for money to play on the machines, (I lasted about 30 mins before having a tantrum over tea.)

Overall it's quite a good play area for school age children, with plenty to do for the 2 hours you pay for and the children have requested to go back so it can't be that bad, but I would avoid the food, and most importantly the tea.

Our eighth anniversary of living

Eight years ago today I was 9 months pregnant (for those that don't know when you are pregnant it's counted in weeks so you are pregnant for around 10 months) and went for my last hospital appointment,where my blood pressure was extremely high so they sent me for a few more tests and found I was suffering from Pre-eclampsia, as my baby was in danger they decided they wanted to induce me there and then.

Now after 9 months of waiting and saying to people "I can't wait for my baby to be here" when they said, "we need to induce you, you are having that baby tonight" my first response was "er, no I'm not, I don't want to have a baby anymore!", I'm not quite sure what I expected to do about the living being inside of me but I just wanted to go home, maybe it was the shock and worry but I didn't feel like having a baby right then!
I remember turning to my (now ex) partner and father of my child whilst the doctor was on the phone saying "we need a bed, I have a lady suffering "insert medical jargon" and needs to be induced immediately" and saying "who is he talking about that doesn't sound good," my (ex) partner looked at me like I was stupid (yes I know I was) and said YOU!

After 9 months of reading books about my baby's progress, listening to other mothers stories, watching as many programmes as I could on childbirth and talking to my baby constantly I was already completely in love with him and being told there is a chance you can lose your most precious thing is like a living nightmare, It was like I changed into a completely different person, I decided we would survive no matter what, nothing was going to hurt me and my baby after I had spent so long carrying him and loving him, or if anyone had to die it was me and even told my (ex) partner, if anything happens you  must save the baby and not me.

The hospital did allow me to get my overnight bag as long as I was back within the hour, I went back and then underwent numerous pessarries and "sweeps"-possibly more painful than the childbirth! but my labour refused to begin naturally and eventually my waters were broken for me at 1pm, unfortunately a few hours into labour the cord got caught around the babies neck and I was warned not to push while they undid it, I tried my hardest not to and at 5:38pm a most shocking thing happened...................




-a lovely healthy baby boy was placed in to my arms, at first he didn't cry and this caused me a panic but like many other men once he saw my face, he screamed! but I loved the sound, and now 8 years later we are both hear to tell the tale (and he still screams on a regular basis!) and be grateful for everyday that has been given to us.

We both have our days when we are angry or upset but I always try to remember how lucky we all are for everything we have been given and hope we have many more years to come  :)

Brewers fayre at Belmont make you feel at home-literally

....and not in the good way!

My male companion, (not what you are thinking, we used to call each other cousins )is off on a trip around the world, so as we hadn't seen each other for a while we agreed on meeting at Brewers fayre in Belmont Industrial estate for a meal to say our not so emotional goodbyes.

Maybe it was our faults for choosing mid week when everyone is tired, praying for the weekend (unless you work them!) and ready for a "half time" break, but our service wasn't exactly up to scratch!

As we entered at 7pm, we found our own table and sat, after choosing from the menu, which I have to say has quite a good choice I went to the bar to order, where I was told it was table service, weird because no-one had arrived at our table in the half an hour we had been there but like the good girl I am, I did as I was told and  I went back to the table and sat waiting patiently.

We sat a while longer, in the meantime a couple came and sat opposite us, who it turned out my male companion had just met in Jacuzzi in the gym, (I didn't ask any questions)

A waiter eventually came and served the jacuzzi couple while completely ignoring us, now my male companion had been to this pub earlier in the day with another female companion, so I thought maybe the staff are just against extra marital activities which is fair enough.

I eventually caught a waiters attention by lowering my top and hitching my skirt a little (not really!) where we ordered our starters, I had Cajun king prawn, and my companion ordered duck parcels & garlic bread, the food arrived quite quickly and was indeed very enjoyable, (the jacuzzi couple seemed to be enjoying their food too.)
While we waited for our table to be cleared and to order our mains I noticed jacuzzi couple where still getting excellent table service!

After around 45minutes of waiting and talking about myself, and hearing jacuzzi couple complain to the waiter who was doting on them that he hadn't put lemon in their drinks or something random like that, I got a bit bored so we agreed to skip mains and went to the bar and ordered some desserts and coffees and paid the tab.

I ordered a tasting platter, where you can chose 3 of the desserts on the menu and get a smaller version of each, I went with Eaton mess, profiteroles and pecan pie, my companion went for the full plate of profiteroles and an americano. (coffee for those of you who, like me, are not well learned in the world of beverages).

Another long wait ensued and this is the point I felt right at home, because at home I don't get anything unless I get up make it and get it myself, and I don't have the privilege of paying for it or paying "gratitude" for the "service"

I was getting a little impatient at this point but politely asked if we had been forgotten, to which the waiter replied they "had no record of us ordering any desserts!", now I knew they had a grudge against us!

After an emotional breakdown and a "why do I have to do everything for everyone" speech, I felt completely at home and eventually managed to calm the waiter! (not really!)  he then went and got us some desserts and they  arrived quite quickly after this, the pecan pie was quite sickly but the rest was nice and they both came with mini jugs of pouring cream, I can't comment on the americano as I had to collect that from the bar and spilt the majority of it walking back to our table.

So if you want to go somewhere where you practically have to serve yourself and have the chance of meeting jacuzzi going couples but the food is nice and reasonably priced then this is the place to be, it hasn't got a play area as many people seem to think but it does have a nice "ambiance" if you are just there to have a drink, and maybe we just chose the wrong day?.............