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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Collaborative posts · April 21, 2017

Planning to Invest in Property | AD

*This is a collaborative guest post

Dave and I have always thought that one day we’d love to own a second property – a little flat to rent out on a long term let or a holiday home to rent out when we’re not using it. It’s a bit of a pipe dream, something I know won’t happen for quite a few years but it’s something we’re reading up about and planning for in the hope we can make it a reality.

Planning to Invest in Property

Here are a few things we’ve learnt whilst researching our plan to join the buy to let market:

1. There are so many rules and regulations – and red tape galore

When it comes to buy to let properties the law is constantly changing and so you need to continually educate yourself, keeping up to date as things change. Each local authority also has rules on what is and isn’t allowed when it comes to buying properties to rent out so it can be a minefield of information.

To make sure we not only make the right decisions but also make sure that everything we do is completely legal we would definitely consult a solicitor before purchasing and renting out a property in the future.

2. There are property managers that can help

For a holiday let or a longer term rental property you can appoint a property manager – a holiday lettings firm or a lettings agency to look after the rental for you. They can find tenants, access the property on your behalf and even organise maintenance and the paperwork side of things.

With a family and our own home to look after it makes complete sense to pass over control to someone else, letting them manage the rental property for us and keeping us up to date with any issues. There would obviously be a fee for the property management but it would be worthwhile to save stress and give us extra peace of mind.

3. Even though we will have a rental income, we will still need a contingency fund

Like with any property there are things that can go wrong – boilers that need to be replaced, maintenance costs, leaking roofs. We will always need to have savings to make sure that we can pay for these sorts of things – or at least cover the excess on our relevant insurance policies. We also need to make sure we can cover any mortgage payments in the event that the property is empty for any period of time.

4. We need to have insurance

You are able to buy buildings insurance for rental properties but we could go for a more tailored and extensive cover option like homelet insurance for landlords which can incorporate emergency assistance protection and legal expenses cover as well as the buildings and contents insurance.

This kind of cover can also include a rent guarantee in case tenants can’t pay their rent and if we decided to buy further rental properties it can include portfolio insurance too – like multi-car insurance but for rental properties.

5. We would need to enlist the help of an accountant

All rental income needs to be taxed – once you’re over the income tax threshold. There are also business expenses that would be tax deductible where a rental property is concerned. This is another area that Dave and I aren’t familiar with and something that we would definitely need help to make sure we declared everything we need to. Like with any additional income, if in doubt – hire an accountant. This will be one of our first ports of call.

Dave and I may not own a rental property for a few years yet but there’s no harm in starting to research and plan for the future. For the new few months – and years – we will be keeping an eye on the property market, saving as much money as we can and looking for any opportunities that may arise. Who knows, we may end up being landlords one day!

In: Collaborative posts

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Comments

  1. Karen, the next best thing to mummy says

    April 21, 2017 at 6:05 pm

    I must admit that I didn’t realise that there were so many rules and regulations in buying a second property, makes me wonder how so many people manage to do it in this part of the country (Devon) making it almost impossible for our children to afford to buy and live here!

    Reply
  2. Laura - Dear Bear and Beany says

    April 23, 2017 at 10:29 pm

    It’s my dream to have a holiday home abroad, somewhere that we can fly to easily but when we arrive it feels like home. I know that there is a lot that comes with owning a second property, but I’m sure it would be worth it x

    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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