Adorable as she is, my little angel seems to be quite addicted to her soothers (or "do-do's", as they are called in our house!).

I'm dreading the day she has to give them up and become a "big girl"... Which may not be too far away now as she really needs to give them up before she begins nursery school. This wasn't an issue with my son: he never took a liking to them, and so I was never faced with that awful parent guilt of having to take them away!

Ah well, there's still time for her to give them up willingly...

Technorati Tags: soothers | dodo | dummy | dummies | growing+up | babies | comforters

After reading Tracy's article about the freedom of household routines, I remembered a great tip from Marguerite Duras: keeping a list of store cupboard essentials.

This is something I've done for a while now. On our fridge we stuck a list of all the kitchen essentials we can't do without, and tick things off as they need replenishing. That way we never run out of household essentials. There are loads of meals and uses for these items, so even if an unexpected guest arrives, we always have something to cook for them, and have the essentials for keeping things clean.

Have you ever wondered which of the Wisteria Lane ladies you are like the most? Here's a fun quiz to find out:

Which Desperate Housewife are you?

Apparently I'm most like Bree...

Which housewife are you?

Technorati Tags: desperate | housewives | quiz | personality | test

Hubby was rather wild when we received the electric bill a few weeks ago. He wasn't impressed yesterday when we had the gas bill...

"We always use more heating/lighting/gas for the cooker/etc in winter," I tried to explain. But still, our monthly payments have increased by more than 100%.

It's time to cut down on our use of these facilities. So I've been reading up lots about how to use less energy in the home. Not only does this cut down on bills, but it also helps the environment as we use less fossil fuels! So here's a few of the best tips I've found. I hope they help you reduce your costs and environment bill too:

• Use low energy light bulbs. Many companies offer these for free to help reduce the cost to the environment. We were actually given a pack for free by our local housing authority; you can also buy packs of 2-3 from "Poundland" stores.
• Turn the washing machine temperature down to 30 degrees as much as possible. You'll save 25% of the electricity cost for heating the water, and most coloured washes are still cleaned just as well.
• Switch off appliances at the wall plug, or unplug them altogether. Appliances such as TV's and DVD players still use energy when on standby mode. So when not in use, make sure they're not eating into your bills!
• Invest in double glazing if you can. Okay, I know this is an expensive job, but you'll really notice a difference. Our old apartment had double glazing, and it cost so much less to keep warm than it did at our new house (until we had the new windows installed). In the long run, you'll save a lot of money!
• Draftproof your home: letterboxes, ill fitting doors and windows can all become more efficient by installing draft-proof fuzzy tape. Many local authorities in the UK will do this as a free service (or very cheaply) if you make an application; in many cases, this includes cavity wall and water heater installation.
• Invest in a washing line and some pegs! Tumble dryers use up so much electricity to get clothes dry. I've barely used mine at all these past few weeks. In fact, only once because it rained solid for three days...

When I discover some more tips I'll be sure to post them here. In the meantime, you should also check out these websites for more information on reducing your bills/making your home a more environmentally friendly place:

• Energy Saving Trust
• Free energy efficiency advice for your home
• The Energy Partnership

Technorati Tags: energy efficiency low+energy light+bulbs saving+money electricity gas bills environment

Summer's blog, Wired for Noise features a great regular feature called The Carnival of Sahms. Here you can read some great blog posts about SAHMs (stay at home mums) and the issues which concern us.

This month, the carnival features a post from here at Glamumous! Be sure to check out Summer's blog for some great posts and articles (Thanks for the add, Summer!)

Technorati Tags: blog| carnival| sahms| stay+at+home+mums| wired+for+noise