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Today has been exhausting. Most days I have it covered, we all get out of the house in the morning looking "mostly" immaculate, with everything needed for the school run, the nappies and wipes for the little one, my laptop, phone, handbag and sky scraping heels. Today, was somehow a little more frazzled.

Today the school run was done and dusted with no drama, we were even early, we then had a playdate to help develop the little ones social skills, nap time (the little one not me), emails dealt with, back to school and then somehow the military operation that is our daily life somehow became a little  less organised.

We scraped to the swimming lesson by the skin of our teeth (I blame the tractor that delayed our journey), there was no where to sit so the toddler was running around (again the tractor is to blame in my eyes), I had no change for the vending machine (I can't blame the tractor for this one), so after swimming snacks were a no-go (much to the disappointment of my eldest but secretly to my delight) and then we get home, dinner seemed to take forever and was then proceeded to be flung around the kitchen. *takes a breath*

Now I am sitting here, looking back on the day and chuckling to myself at the things the girls have said and their funny little ways. Ultimately, the children were where they were supposed to be, when they were supposed to be there, my deadlines were met when they needed to be, admitedly my eldest daughter did not get the snacks she wanted, but at the end of the day when I kicked off my sky scraper heels, I maybe more like a tightrope walker than a juggler in the circus of our family life, but I am glad I have got ring side seats to the laughter.

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I was having a conversation online with my friend this evening, she was in bed at home and I was eating chocolate whilst catching up on some emails. That is how rock and roll we are! I seem to talk to my friends online or via text way more than I did 10 years ago, I can have 3 conversations at once, be cooking dinner, washing clothes or watching tv but keeping in touch with my friends at the same time .... who could ever question that a woman can't multi task?

Friday nights have always been my "girls" night, whether it was a night in or a night out, it was always with my friends. We moved from ice skating as school girls, to pubs and clubs as teenagers, through to drinks and dinner parties in our (ahem) twenties and thirties. I never forget one of my closest friends suggesting Bingo on one Friday night. Now don't get me wrong, I know lots of women that enjoy and win big at Bingo but for girls in their early twenties, it wasn't top of the plans for a night out. Fast forward to today, bingo is much more glamorous than old fashioned bingo halls and like most things now, you can play that online too.

I have to admit that having had dancing lessons throughout my entire childhood, I love to go out on a Friday night with my friends, in my sky rocketing heels and have a dance. There is no doubt that you can get the dance mat's and dancing games to do it at home but it is not quite the same as getting all glammed up for a Friday night out with the girls. So whilst this Friday I maybe staying home with my chocolate and some online chatting, you can be rest assured that whilst chatting, we are actually planning out next girly night out!

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A few weeks ago, during half term, my eldest daughter got the opportunity to go to see her baby sister in her Water Babies swimming lessons. This was quite a novelty for her, especially as it is usually the little one watching her every week.

So whilst sitting on the side of the pool playing on her iPod, she decided to take some videos of Nanny and the little fish in the water. It was fantastic for me to get home and watch them enjoying the water and I have loved seeing her start to learn to actually kick her feet in the water.

I have agonised over sharing these videos, as it is genuinely lovely to see all the little ones enjoying the lesson and I really want to share it with you so you could see what I have been going on about for all these weeks. But unfortunately it is not just Nanny and little fish in the video. There are other babies in the background and I know how I would feel if someone was sharing my daughters images through social networks, without my permission.

I remember when I was young, my parents took pictures of me in the bath or running through the water sprinkler in the garden for no other reason than for their memories. Unfortunately today, in an age when every aspect of our lives is shared through social media, I am still very reluctant to share images or videos of my children.

Ultimately, I am not skilled enough with video editing to manage to isolate the little fish and Nanny in the video, so you will just have to take my word for it that is it great. It just makes me a little sad that we are now so cautious and that protection of our children's safety means sharing our memories is no longer acceptable.

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We have talked quite alot about finances on the Lilypad lately but this is important to growing families, with ever reducing budgets due to the rising cost of living. So can changing bank accounts save you money and how easy can it be to change?

I have changed utility providers before and have always used online comparison sites but I think sometimes we open a bank account and never look to see if it continues to provide us with the best deal and options for our money. (I am guilty of this, as I still have the bank account that gave money boxes for savings goals as a child!)

We don't claim to be financial experts but in the words of Martin Lewis "Switching CAN make you £100s. While banking is 'free', this only applies if you're in credit. Most banks pay a pitiful 0.1% interest on your money then loan it out as overdrafts at 20%. So, even if you like the service, if it's so good, are you willing to pay £100s in lost benefit?"

There are lots of options available and we are not here to suggest anyone in particular but to serve as a reminder that changing your bank account or indeed loan or mortgage could save you hundreds of pounds. Using a comparison site or budgeting tool, like the one we found on family friendly site MyFamilyClub definately helps to reduce the search. 

Budgeting for a family can be a juggling act, whether you are living day to day or saving money for your children's future, so it's great to know that we can save money by using a simple budgeting tool to make simple changes. At this point, I usually make a comment about saving money means I can buy more shoes but the rate my daughters are growing, I think it will be more shoes for them instead!