And just like that, Christmas is here! Our tree is And just like that, Christmas is here! Our tree is up, the Santa hats are out and the first doors on our advent calendars are open.

I love this time of year. It is my favourite. And it’s one of the few times still full of magic even as an adult. I’m going to be soaking up every minute of joy the next few weeks bring and I hope December is full of moments of joy for you too.

Happy December! 🎄
AD | Christmas has arrived at @thelexiconbracknell AD | Christmas has arrived at @thelexiconbracknell and there’s so much to entertain the whole family whilst you do your Christmas shopping! 

Visit The Lexicon Glow Room for a magical light experience that will dazzle you with 20,000 LEDs. It feels like the room goes on forever! Then, take a dip in the Light Pool, a magical ball pool with golden balls to be found and prizes to be won!

If that wasn’t all, have a photo in the giant Christmas bauble ‘sparkling selfie station’ and follow the Twinkle Trail, spotting baubles in shop windows to collect the clues and enter to win fabulous prizes this Christmas. Plus, share your sparkling selfie station pictures, tagging #thelexiconbracknell or email them to marketing@thelexiconbracknell.com and you will automatically be entered in a competition for the chance to win a restaurant gift card too. 

There are also special performances from local choirs, bands and singers and even the chance to meet Bluey, Hey Duggee and Chase from Paw Patrol! You can be sure that a trip to The Lexicon will have something for everyone over the festive season this year. We loved our visit to The Lexicon last weekend and know we’ll be back again before Christmas!

Find out more on @thelexiconbracknell website.

#TheLexiconBracknell #Merry&Bright
AD - Press Trip | What a lovely evening that was! AD - Press Trip | What a lovely evening that was! We had our first Glow Marwell experience tonight - and we loved it. It may even be the best light trail we have been to.

We spent well over two hours at @marwellzoo, enjoying the light installations, indulging in the food stalls and cafe, toasting marshmallows and even meeting Father Christmas! 

Glow Marwell was such a nice way to kick off the festive season - and it’s on all the way through December! If you’re looking for a really nice festive activity the whole family can enjoy, this could definitely be it!
AD | Are you looking for gifts for the grandparent AD | Are you looking for gifts for the grandparents this year? @famileo_uk is a wonderful gift, giving the recipient a personalised gazette of family news regularly throughout the year - and it costs from just £5.99 a month. 

Multiple family members can use the same subscription, all posting messages to be added to one gazette - and sharing the cost of the subscription too! It’s great for parents, siblings and children to all share their news with grandparents each week, fortnight or month. 

We’ve been sending my dad Family gazettes for a while now and he absolutely loves them. It means we tell him all the little things that are happening and not just the big news you remember to mention in phone calls. The children get to upload their own messages to their grandad and it’s definitely made them feel closer, building a stronger relationship despite living far apart.

Find out more about Family over on the blog - link in bio - and buy a subscription for your nearest and dearest this Christmas. It’s a gift they will definitely love to receive.
Two weeks of Fred & George! I won’t be doing the Two weeks of Fred & George! I won’t be doing these updates every week but I like having somewhere to put all these photos!

They’re now three months old, super loving and happy, making biscuits and purring constantly.

They stay in ‘their’ room overnight but explore the house during the day, getting more confident as time passes. They even got to the point of relaxing on the sofa with us last night.

Fred & George are now very much part of our family and I can’t imagine them not being there now - even at 7am when they’re miaowing at the door for breakfast!
AD | Stuck for screen-free entertainment that your AD | Stuck for screen-free entertainment that your kids will love? Claim your FREE Banjo Robinson activity pack today!
 
Reading for pleasure is a key indicator of a child’s future success, but if your child doesn’t love to read, what can you do? We know it’s not always easy keeping kids entertained and away from screens, so we’ve partnered with the award-winning @banjorobinson to gift you a FREE activity pack, worth £9.99.

Here’s a little look at the Banjo Robinson subscription - Troy loves it! Travelling to world with Banjo is so much fun! You can read our full review over on the blog and claim your free activity pack too - link in profile.
A whole week of Fred & George. We weren’t meant A whole week of Fred & George.

We weren’t meant to get more cats just yet but sometimes the universe sends you things when you don’t expect them.

These little guys needed a home and a family to love them. And we had a home and a lot of love to give. We still miss Leia but this pair are definitely helping make me feel whole again.

They are both used to us now, and love us. They’re less nervous, give us cuddles and let us pick them up. They’re still living in our spare room but starting to explore the rest of the house under supervision. 

They play fight constant. Love toys, especially a crinkly feather thing on a string attached to a stick, and love being up high. They are an awesome pair and we are so glad to have them.

Thank you @millbrook_rspca @rspca_official for trusting us with ‘Lonestar and Starfish’. We could not love them more. 

#catsofinstagram #catstagram #catsofig #catsofinsta #catlovers #adoptdontshop #rspcarescuecat #kittensofinstagram #kittens_of_instagram
[AD - Press Trip] I’ve just finished writing abo [AD - Press Trip] I’ve just finished writing about our half term break at @pottersresort and it’s over on the blog if you want to go have a read.

I wanted to put some of my favourite photos on the grid too as the kids did so many fun activities - they had THE best time. 

Giant swing, segways, climbing, archery, laser clays… there was so much to do that we couldn’t fit it all in - we need another trip!
And there ends our October half term - well, apart And there ends our October half term - well, apart from Troy who has a bonus week off!

This half term has been pretty lovely. Troy had his school residential the first weekend and then we had a really lovely few days in Norfolk before heading home and picking up two new members of our family - Fred and George. 11 week old rescue kittens who have pretty much stolen our hearts.

It’s been so nice to have a chunk of quality time with this pair and now I’m looking forward to the Christmas holidays. These two are the best company and I really do live for the school holidays. 

How has your half term been?
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School · August 24, 2017

I got my GCSE Results Half my Life ago

All day I’ve seen on social media and in the news posts about GCSE results and I’ve just realised that I got my results half my life ago. I have lived as much of my life since I got my results as I had lived up until that point.

I got my GCSE Results Half my Life ago

It seems mad that such a pivotal moment in my life, one that I spent so much time working towards is now so insignificant. The last time I was asked my GCSE results was when I applied for my last job – back in 2003.

But, back then, my GCSEs meant everything. I had a love hate relationship with secondary school, being bullied relentlessly but, at the same time, I loved school work, I had a thirst for knowledge, loved to read and got on well with my teachers. I knew I had it in me to do well at school and I did my best to focus on my work even at the darkest times in school.

But, the weekend before my GCSEs started my parents split up. I was devastated but threw myself into those exams like nothing else. I remember going to each exam, working my way through the questions and then spending the rest of the time picking my tie apart until it was time to leave. I knew that if I didn’t know an answer it wasn’t going to come to me and I knew that my first instinct with written exams was normally right – re-reading my answers wouldn’t achieve anything.

After that final exam I walked out of school with my head held high and my shoulders lighter than they had been in a long time. I didn’t have to see my bullies again and could focus on the next chapter of my life – college and everything that would bring, as long as I got the results I needed.

I remember results day like it were yesterday. The sun was shining and I made that journey to school for the very last time. I went by myself, picked up my brown envelope and the made the journey home again – there was no big celebration or anything, I really just wanted to distance myself from school and get on with my life.

But that envelope held the key to my future. I had somehow managed to pass my GCSEs – 2 As, 5 Bs, 2 Cs and a D. I had the grades I needed to get into college and I couldn’t wait to learn more around like minded people – ones that would see me for me.

In the end I was only at college for the first term, being kicked out of home just before Christmas. I didn’t get A-levels or go to university but, I did get those GCSEs and I am still so proud of that achievement 16 years on.

I am sure having my GCSE results helped me to get my job and move from retail to high street banking, opening up more opportunities to me in my career and teaching me so much about the world of finance.

But, for me, looking back at GCSE results day is an opportunity to see how far I have come. Half my life ago my life was only just beginning. I walked out of school into the next stage of my life – and although the following years weren’t the best, life couldn’t be better now.

At 16 life seems so long and life seems so big and scary but it goes by faster than you ever think it will. And really, it isn’t that scary – it sure is big, but it’s not scary, really. Life is there for the taking and regardless of the GCSE results you get life can be one big, fun-filled adventure – and who knows what you’ll be doing 16 years from then, where life will have taken you and what you’ll have to show for the years gone by.

I wonder what I’ll be doing in another 16 years. 48, still in the prime of my life with a 22 and 20 year old. Now, that seems so long away and such a scary prospect!

In: School

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Comments

  1. Plutonium Sox says

    August 24, 2017 at 9:55 pm

    Lovely post Donna. You’re so right, it seems like it’s the be-all and end-all at the time but it really isn’t. It’s even longer ago for me, but it doesn’t seem it, I still remember my results.
    Nat.x

    Reply
  2. Hannah says

    August 25, 2017 at 4:16 pm

    Yep I got my results in 2002 and I turned 31 this year (so about half my life ago). I got 1 B, 5 Cs, 3Ds, and an F lol. A whole mixed back but just what I needed for college.

    Reply

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Hi everyone! I'm Donna. Mummy. Blogger. Social Media Manager. Traveller. Lover of stars, rainbows and gin. Firm believer that tea and cake can fix most things.

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