Life

Tempting Fate

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Do you believe in fate? Are you superstitious? I don’t think of myself as a particularly superstitious person. I walk under ladders and on cracks on pavements. I can never remember if black cats crossing your path are meant to be good or bad luck. But.. and there is a but… There are some things I do seem to believe in. I recently read a post from Mama at My Kid Doesn’t Poop Rainbows about sods law. This is one I know well… as do most parents I’m sure. When you need your little one to nap, they are bound to be wide awake, and when you want them to stay awake, you guessed it, they are fast asleep. I won’t go on but you know what I mean.

Then there is tempting fate… And I can’t help it, from experience I do set a bit of a store by tempting fate. No matter how irrational I also believe it to be and how much I know that saying a particular sentence is NOT going to change the course of events… There are some things I will not say for fear that doing so will have disastrous consequences. And I’m not alone in this.

My husband has a thing about saying the Q word in reference to work. Quiet. The moment you say “ooh it’s quiet today” you can guarantee a catastrophe the likes of which have never been seen before meaning you are run off your feet and working late and stressed beyond belief. So the Q word is never uttered by him at work, and I have to admit I was the same when I was working too

Linking back to sods law, one thing that I am sure many parents will not do it discuss how well their child/ren are sleeping. Woe betide any parent who mentions that their child is sleeping well. Whether they are referring to on that occasion or in general.. It feels like a mistake to utter the words just in case by saying it you cause then to wake screaming!

On a journey you absolutely cannot utter the words we are making good time, or hasn’t it been a good journey so far… Because you know that you will then hit an epic traffic jam or every road leading to your destination will have been closed resulting in diversions that spread the length of the country.

These are just things I know to be true. You can say something positive and then it feels like the powers of fate decide to do the absolute opposite… Purely with a sort of “ha! In your face” motivation. Even writing this feels a bit ridiculous I grant you but then why I do I believe it?

So every now and then I like to try and tempt fate to doing something nice for me instead. For example right now I am going to say this. We are in the midst of a serious phase of poo escapage. In truth it has only happened twice (but come on, when it comes to poo, surely once is more than enough?), once when a certain cheeky madam removed her nappy and stepped in it… smearing poo across the floor, and a second occasion which resulted in fishing poo out of the bath. Shudder. So I am saying again, that we are in the grips of a serious phase of poo escapage in the desperate hope that the powers of fate choose once again to prove me wrong (please, please, please, please). What do you think of my chances? 😉

Do you believe in tempting fate? Or am I writing utter nonsense in yout opinion?

8 Films that make me smile

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Christmas is over, the decorations are down and it is back to work and the day to day routine. I’m actually really enjoying it at the moment but it’s not uncommon for the January blues to strike so I thought I would share a few films that make me smile whenever I see them. So if you get hit with the January blues (or February in fact… my hubs gave me a very cheerful statistic about February being the month when most suicides occur, lovely!) and its cold and grey outside, curl up, get cosy and watch something to make you smile.

20160106_140029The Day After Tomorrow

Ha, bet you thought this would be a list of chick flicks and rom coms right? There are some of those but come on, who doesn’t love a good disaster movie? I’m not sure why but this has got to be one of my favourites.

Storyline: Thanks to global warming Earth is hit by a series of super storms which change the face of the planet and start another ice age. Dennis Quaid is the only scientist who spots this coming but, uh-oh, his son is stuck miles away in New York with a few friends. Cue the best line of the film “I will come for you.” He he full of fab effects and awesome scenes. Just good fun and totally cheesy but makes me smile.

20160106_135819The Sound of Music

An oldie but such a goodie. Happy music and a goody two shoes Julie Andrews frolicking about in the hillside but it’s just so much fun and the kids are cute. Love it.

Storyline: Julie Andrews is a terrible novice nun so they send her to be governess for the 7 (?!) children of a very strict ex sea Captain (Christopher Plummer) whose wife has died. She is obviously the best governess ever and a perfect new mum for the children. She and the Captain fall in love and all looks rosy except for the arrival of the Nazis who threaten to throw a spanner in the works.

p26085_p_v7_abWhat Women Want

This one always gets terrible reviews and okay it’s a bit cheesy and predictable but it is such good fun. I got Hubs to watch it with me over Christmas and he said he had a smile on his face the whole way through. Just good daft fun from start to finish.

Storyline: Mel Gibson is a chauvenist pig advertising exec who missed a promotion when it was given to a woman – Helen Hunt. A freak accident leads to him being able to hear what women are thinking. Cue much fun and him using this new found talent to steal his new boss’s ideas and get her fired. But of course, he ends up turning into a much better person as a result and falls in love along the way. Cheesy? Oh yes! Full of fun? Double Yes.

20160106_140047Julie vs Julia

A must for everyone but especially bloggers and foodie lovers. Maybe not good if you are trying to diet as there is tonnes of delicious food but it is brilliant. Meryl Streep is awesome and so funny and I love Amy Adams.

Storyline: Julie (Amy Adams) hates her job in New York and loves cooking. She challenges to cook all of the recipes from a Julia Childs recipe book and writes a blog about her journey. On the flipside we go back in time to meet Julia Childs, played by Meryl Streep, at the time she is learning to cook and writing said recipe book. Both parts of the story are hilarious and wonderful and it’s just a really feel-good film.

20160106_140139The Help

Bit of a political one this one but such a lovely story makes this tale set in a time of racism and segregation heart warming and so so funny. The way “the help” were treated is horrific but they get their own back, and come on, who doesn’t like a good bit of comeuppance?

Storyline: 1960s Mississippi and a society girl (Emma Stone) who doesn’t quite fit in has dreams of becoming a writer. She has the great idea of persuading the black women who work for the upper class white families to share their stories of life as “the help” raising their children and cleaning their houses, much to the horror of their employers. Great fun and you have to watch it.

20160106_140122Somethings Gotta Give

A rom com with a bit of a difference as it isn’t all about the young and the beuatiful. So so funny watching Diane Keaton and Jack Nicholson navigate the world of sex and romance for the over 60’s. Brilliant acting obviously and it is so so funny and heart warming.

Storyline: Jack Nicholson is a rich and successful batchelor who only dates young women, much to the disgust of Diane Keaton when he is dating her daughter (Amanda Peet). They hate each other on sight but when he has a heart attack they are forced to spend time together, and even though she is dating his doctor (Keanu Reeves) the pair end up falling in love.

20160106_140235What to expect when you’re expecting

A must see for parents and parents to be. Unlike the usual glossy view of pregnancy being all about happiness and glowing women, this film very amusingly shows the realities of pregnancy. There is also a fantastic group of dads who take the kids to the park every week, headed by Chris Rock so I am sure you can guess how funny that is.

Storyline: The film basically follows a number of couples as they discover they are pregnant right through until birth. Dealing with everything from flatulence and wetting yourself to relationship troubles and miscarriage. A fantastic cast including Cameron Diaz, Rebel Wilson, Jennifer Lopez, Elizabeth Banks and as mentioned, Chris Rock. Just great fun and like I say, parents will love it.

20160106_135753Matilda

I love Roald Dahl and this has got to be one of my favourites. What kid wouldn’t love to have magical powers meaning you can get your own back on the people who treat you badly? It’s full of so much wonderful language such as “festering pustule” and “carbunkle” it is great fun from start to finish.

Storyline: Matilda is born into a family who doesn’t appreciate her and she is generally left to her own devices. Sent to a school presided over by the awesome Principal Trunchbull who hates children, things aren’t looking much better for Matilda, until she meets her lovely teacher, Miss Honey. Oh and did I mention? Matilda learns she has magical powers meaning she can move this things with her mind. This enables her to get her own back on Ms Trunchbull and her family. Great fun.

Ooh I could probably go on forever as the more I think about it, the more films I can think of that make me smile! Rom-coms such as Wimbledon and my new favourite About Time are just lovely and cheerful. Both the Sex and the City films make me smile, and the second one especially with the honesty for how hard being a mother is! More good fun action romps include White House Down and Olympus has fallen… the latter including the wonderful line “Let’s play a game of f**k off, you go first.” haha But I won’t go on.

The point is, don’t get hit by the January blues, watch something that will make you smile instead. What films are guaranteed to make you smile?

Goals for me in 2016

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Most of my posts on here are about our family life and the kiddies especially. Inevitable really as they are the most important things in my life but for now I thought I would write a little post about me. I’m not particularly setting new years resolutions as I don’t think you have to start something new just because it is the new year. The being said there are changes that need to be made and things about me that I want to focus on and now is as good a time as any to start.

Diet and exercise
Yep, starting with the obvious one. I have been eating way too much for quite a while, even before Christmas and have definitely not worried about indulging over the Christmas period. I am not beating myself up over this, life is too short and I have enjoyed myself. But, and there is a but, I am not happy with the added weight I am carrying at the moment.

Our scales broke a while ago and we haven’t replaced them so I don’t know how much I actually weigh (I find it better to judge based on how my clothes fit anyway) but I am carrying it a bit differently at the moment. I’m pear shaped and have always carried extra weight around my hips and bottom. Now though, I guess as a result of being stretched from having 2 children I am very much expanding around my middle and ooh do I hate it! I have been wearing legs and tunics and dresses loads as it is more comfy than squeezing into jeans and it is time to tackle it. I’m a big believer that if you are unhappy about something then you are the one who needs to change it. So that is what I am going to do. No matter how much I enjoy eating, I don’t enjoy carrying around the extra weight so need to change.

Of course the main thing is going to be watching what I eat again. I have done weight watchers before and find the points really help me be aware of how much I am eating etc. so I will be doing that again. No fad diets here, just sensibe eating. Exercise is going to play a big part too though. My friends and I have been swimming once or twice a week for a while (thank goodness or I don’t know how huge I would be) so that will continue and I want to make it a definite twice a week thing. I also want to do more yoga or pilates as I really need to strengthen my back.

I’ve always had a few problems with my back, especially my lower back but since having kids my upper back can get terrible too. (All the carrying and stooping over etc.) It gives me horrific headaches from the referred pain and I know I need to work on strengthening my core and my whole body. There is a great pilates class nearby I was supposed to start a couple of months ago but, well, it hasn’t happened. The first week I didn’t go as LM had croup, the next week hubs Grandpa died that day, then I was ill, then I was preparing to host hub’s grandpa’s wake, then Monkey had croup, then I did actually go but the woman running it had the flu and cancelled the class! Then I was out for a meal and then it was Xmas week and they closed. So it has been a catalogue of disasters but I really want to try and go in January.

I’ve also been wondering how I can squeeze some yoga in to my day as I have a couple of good dvds and even 10 mins of good stretching here and there would be better than nothing. Every evening at the mo hubs does bath time with the kids and because I am shattered, unless I am sorting laundry I am generally lying on my bed playing candy crush until LM gets annoyed and I play with her while hubs carries on bathing Monkey. I am trying to make this a bit of yoga time instead and I have managed 2 days so far! Hopefully I can improve on that and hopefully it will contribute to me feeling better, fitter and stronger.

Postnatal Depression
I haven’t talked about it much for a while because I have being doing so much better on antidepressants but the time has come where my doctor has suggested trying to see how I feel about coming off them. There’s no rush obviously but it has been over 6 mths and I guess you don’t know if you don’t try, right? So she has suggested taking them on alternate days to see how I feel. I started this right before Christmas and sadly it didn’t go well. I would skip a tablet and feel fine all that day, but the following morning I was feeling very stressed again. I wondered if it was psychosomatic but I would have thought that if that was the case then I would have felt anxious on the day I skipped a tablet, rather than 24hrs later?

Anyway I got quite anxious and stressed and after a chat with my husband, who was concerned about the way I was reacting to things, we decided I wouldn’t try this until after Christmas. Christmas can be stressful enough as it is and he didn’t like seeing me reacting the way I was when things were at their worst. I am trying again now though and so we shall see how things go this time. If I react the same way again then I will tell my doctor that I don’t feel ready yet, as I don’t want to pressure myself into coming off them until I am ready.

I also hope to make a bit more time for me and my friends this year as it is all too easy to be consumed with family life, though I know it does me the world of good to just be me from time to time. It’s a difficult one as my kids are the most important thing in the world to me but I know it is good for them to have time with their Daddy and with their grandparents and good for them if I feel fresh from having a break. The doesn’t always make it easy to leave them though or take away the guilt when Monkey gets sad about me going. Which happens.. even some time afterwards and even if he had a lovely time at the time, he just comes out with the fact that mummy going somewhere made him sad. Talk about pulling my heart strings! But I know he has so much of me that it isn’t a bad thing for me to do things for myself sometimes too.

As for the blogging…. I um and ah about it a lot and think about stopping but the truth is enjoy it. I am always thinking about what else I can blog about. I am never going to be a huge blogger, I just don’t have the time or energy. I don’t contact pr companies or fight to get what I can… If someone would like me to review something and it is something I would genuinely use then I will review it. Otherwise again I just don’t have the time or energy. But that’s OK because it is a hobby I enjoy and the rest doesn’t really matter. I am going to make more of an effort to engage with the blogging community though and my favourite bloggers in particular. I can be very insular by nature and tend to hide away rather than joining in with things but this can mean I miss out so I want to try a bit harder with that.

I am also going to try and be a bit more organised. While Hubs has been off we have done a lot of sroting round the house, the loft and garage are much more organised as are many of our cupboards and the conservatory is possibly the cleanest it has ever been. So this should help. I have aso been rubbish at doing things like sending thank you cards over the past year which I hate so I am going to try and be more organised in that respect too.

So I say I am not setting new years resolutions… but I guess I am. I just hope that they are realistic and achieveable though rather than pie in the sky objectives that will fall by the wayside after a few months!! Over all I think I just want to be happy this year and I hope that by making a decision to change the things I dislike that I can achieve that and feel better overall.

Are you setting yourselves any resolutions this January? What would you like to achieve over the next year?

Our Family in 2015

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So the end of the year is approaching and I am not going to do a full look back at the past year… but I thought it was a good opportunity instead to have a look at all the me and mine shots of our little foursome taken over the past year, to see how much we have all grown and changed.family 2015

Some shots are better than others (ahem June!) and the only shot I have of the four of us for December is a pretty rubbish selfie on the bed on Christmas morning… but it is a shot of all of us and you can see how different the kiddies look compared to January, with LM obviously changing the most throughout the course of the year.

There is much to come in 2016, birthdays, a wonderful holiday with my parents, hopefully house sitting for friends in Dorset again, Monkey starting school in September (eek) and generally enjoying our children grow and change every day. I know people say life with children doesn’t get easier it just changes. .. but I have to disagree. Yes there are always challenges, that’s life, but the challenges are different as the children grow and I personally find that things do get easier as the little onesgrow out of the baby stage.

This time next year LM will probably be talking… she may not be napping anymore and at 2 may even be on her way to being toilet trained. Monkey will be at school and hopefully doing well. It will be a very different Christmas and our lives will be different. I can’t help but be excited to see what else 2016 has in store for us and I plan (or hope) to enjoy every minute as much as I can.

Happy New Year to you and all the best for 2016. Thanks for reading!

Run Jump Scrap!

Christmas 2015

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Wow, well that’s it, Christmas is over for another year eh? And what a wonderful Christmas it was in our house. Really magical. Mainly for the sake of posterity here is a quick round up. (And it is quite picture heavy – be warned! :))

Christmas eve and Monkey was so excited to put out the food for Father Christmas and his Reindeer.20151224_182915

Christmas morning and our Little Minx unfortunately woke up around 530. Yawn! We managed to all stay in bed till 615 when she started getting unhappy and woke her brother. Being Christmas we then all piled into our bed with stocking for the excitement of opening our stockings. This is a tradition I remember from when I was a kid and love carrying it on with ours. Wonderful to see Monkey’s excitement at all the little bits and bobs Father Christmas bought him, and though she didn’t have as much LM was very happy with her pressies too. A couple of very attractive family selfies were taken on the bed then it was time to head downstairs.PhotoGrid_1451288565218

We’ve started the tradition that in addition to stockings, FC leaves a wrapped present for each child under the tree and a joint one. Monkey was thrilled to see the food had been eaten and drink drunk and was so excited by his presents. Then we all gave each other some presents. Monkey was massively excited with his Woody toy and LM loved her happyland bits though I think she was wondering what was going on, as well as enjoying it all.PhotoGrid_1451288856877

Then it was time for our yummy traditional fry up breaks something else I remember from growing up. A real treat for Christmas morning and Monkey even ate some of Daddy’s black pudding… and he loved it! Good boy!

We were hosting Christmas at ours, which is about the 4th year in a row. We love doing it, are luck to have the space and it does make it so much easier to have the kids at home where they are comfy for naps etc. This year was the turn of having my family all round. So far the Christmas Dinners have been a joint effort or very much down to Hubs, but this year was the first year I have cooked it all on my own and thankfully it went really well! We did our favourite cider braised ham with honey and mustard glaze instead of Turkey (controversial I know) and of course all the trimmings. Because we are planners we have all the timings written down and for Christmas they are even laminated and honestly it takes so much stress out of it as I knew exactly what I needed to do and when. I was really proud of myself and dinner went down a storm!christmas meal

We all got some truly wonderful presents. I got a beautiful necklace from hubs engraved with his and the kids names, my parents got us annual membership to an awesome farm centre nearby and one of my brother’s gave us vouchers for a meal out including the offer of babysitting – the perfect gift for any parents and so thoughtful! I can’t list everything here but we really were all spoilt with such thoughtful presents. Hubs’ best present was a drone I got him. He has been saying he wanted one since we went to the gadget show and though I have very much vetoed the £2000 ones I found a very cheap one on amazon and it has been so much fun over Christmas. A couple of pictures taken with it haha he needs some practice but they aren’t bad! Not the best quality when it is dark though.drone

We went for a little walk in the wet in the afternoon to clear our heads a bit and get some fresh air and it did the kids good to get out of he house. Plus they loved having fun with their uncles.PhotoGrid_1451314758910

A few other piccies of all the fun throughout the rest of the day 🙂PhotoGrid_1451289267224

That night when the kids were in bed it was time to rouse our sleepy selves and play some games. Always so much fun and much laughter ensues. Got to be one of my favourite parts of Christmas laughing and having fun with my wonderful family.PhotoGrid_1451314882914

The next day was the turn of hubs’ side of the family and they all came round for yet more presents and a lovely buffet. More yummy food for us all. Again we were all so spoiled with wonderful presents and had so much fun. The kids adore all of their aunts and uncles and grandparents and we are so so lucky to have all of the family so close both literally and figuratively.PhotoGrid_1451315052317

So there we have it, we’ve eaten, drunk and certainly been very merry. What a wonderful happy magical Christmas

How was yours? Ihope it was everything you could have wished for.

Is it all a bit too much?

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This time of year is so hectic and full on and I have been feeling lately that maybe it is all just too much, especially for the kids. Don’t get me wrong, I love Christmas and all the build up… but everything seems to start so early now and everything is so amped up and it is just feeling a bit much.

rp_20151206_192806-465x720.jpgThe last couple of years we have been provided with a beautiful Christmas tree in exchange for promoting the company on my blog. We have been extremely happy about this arrangement, but it has meant that we have been putting the decorations up far earlier than we would have otherwise. Small trade off but it does affect the kids. Every day I have to stop LM from pulling baubles off the tree and every day I have to tell Monkey that no it isn’t Christmas day yet.

So many people seem to decorate so early these days too. I saw some houses lit up by the end of November… and with social media the number of Christmas trees etc. up and filling my feed as the beginning of December astounded me. I don’t remember things started so early when I was a kid? Why do we all do it? I don’t think we will decorate quite so early in the future as December has felt quite long this year.

I’m also very unconvinced about chocolate in advent calendars. Obviously the kids love it and it is a good way to tell Monkey how many days are left until the big day. But both of my kids have had more chocolate in the last month than they usually get in maybe half a year! Because it isn’t just chocolate in advent calendars, it’s treats from father Christmas and from preschool. There seems to be tonnes of it about and it just feels like too much. I know that it comes down to choice and I don’t have to give the kids a chocolate advent calendar and I’m not sure whether we will next year… don’t want to be bah humbug either so will have to think of something.

There seems to be father Christmases everywhere too now. You can barely leave the house without seeing the big guy in shops, shopping centres, at pre school and school fetes. I had to stop Monkey going in one shop as I knew we would have a tantrum if he saw him and I didn’t let him go to him. But he can’t see him every time we go out, it would cost a fortune and there are only so many naff presents I can cope with! Then there is the whole encouraging our kids to cuddle a stranger in a fancy dress costume… but let’s not go down that road.20151209_105616

Moving on to nativities at pre-school. Don’t get me wrong it was very cute seeing all the kiddies at pre-school all dressed up and singing but really they seem so young for putting on a show. Quite a lot of them were very overwhelmed and my Monkey wasn’t alone in crying for much of the performance. It just feels like a bit too much pressure on them? Some of them revelled in it of course as all kids are different but many didn’t. Why is there the need to do these performances? Who is it for? Us parents? I would rather have my little man be happy carrying on his usual routine than upset about the changes and feeling pressured to do something he isn’t comfortable with yet. Maybe that’s just me though. It was lovely but I guess I’m just not sure it was worth it, if that makes sense.

We managed to get a few smiles after pulling silly faces from the audince... but he wasn't happy about perfomring!

We managed to get a few smiles after pulling silly faces from the audince… but he wasn’t happy about performing!

I’ve also found that some children at preschool are ‘writing cards’ for their friends there. Or rather their mums are getting lists of the kids names and writing out cards to each of them. On the one hand it is lovely and thoughtful and Monkey does enjoy receiving the cards … but on the other it just feels a bit too much. I don’t even know who some of the kids he has received cards from are… and when I ask him Monkey says he doesn’t know either. Maybe that says more about me as I am not the most sociable person in the world but who has the time or money to write an additional 20 odd cards for children that will just go in the recycling in a few weeks? I may get Monkey to help write a few for friends… though given that tomorrow is his last day I may never get round to it haha. He has made some gorgeous cards for his relatives though.

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I am also eating too much at the moment… which I know is down to no-one but me. There is the attitude of why not, it’s Christmas, treat yourself. But it’s not actually Christmas yet and I have been over indulging for too long so now a week before Christmas I feel ready to diet already! Like I say it’s no one’s fault but my own but it’s just another example of things being ‘too much’ at the moment.

Christmas presents are another matter entirely. I loved this post from Sara at Mum turned Mom about why they are giving their children experiences rather than gifts and this post from Mum of Three World really spoke to me too about the uselessness of some of the gifts that the shops are filled with at this time of year. We don’t give the kids very many presents at Christmas, one from us, one from santa and a few small bits like books as stocking fillers. They get enough from their relatives and don’t feel they need much more… and I will follow Sara’s example in the future! As for everyone else we usually buy from lists we have been given for ease and making sure it is what they want… but this year we have gone off-list for most people and have hopefully bought some thoughtful presents that they will like and/or find useful. I hope so anyway!

I think part of my problem this year is actually that we have been uncharacteristically organised. Thanks to a couple of child free shopping trips we got organised buying presents really early and I am not sure that has been for the best. For a start, a couple of things have been reduced since then (grrr) and also I am second guessing some pressies and wondering if we are giving enough and am ending up spending more than I do when things I am less organised. Daft eh?

I am aware this is a slightly rambling grumpy post and I assure you I am not really scrooge reincarnated. Outwardly I am joining in with a smile on my face. Monkey and I are crafting, I am wrapping presents and writing cards and most of all I will love spending the extra time with my family as that is really what it is all about to me. I know that many of the above gripes come down to choice and I feel maybe I will make a few conscious choices next year instead of being swept along with the tide of what everyone else is doing.

I’ve also been watching the “back in time for Christmas” programmes recently and it is fascinating seeing Christmas across different eras compared to Christmas now. Have you seen it? What did you think?

My word of the week is a bit of a cheat as it is two words – “too much.”

The Reading Residence

Getting in the Christmas Spirit

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The word of the week for us this week has to be “Christmas” as it has been a very Christmassy week!

Things kicked off with a bang on Friday night as hubs and I had a wonderful night out for his works Christmas do. Not only was it a night out but a night away as my parents babysat and we got a night in a hotel room. Not just any hotel room either, as one of my close friends works in the hotel where the party was hosted (the same hotel we got married in, in fact) and she got us upgraded to the bridal suite! It was amazing and luxurious and so so lovely to be us for the night and not Mummy & Daddy. I drank too much and stayed up too late but at least we didn’t have to get up for the kids first thing in the morning!PhotoGrid_1449671744841

Christmas continued over the weekend (through our monster hangovers, honestly I can’t hack it anymore!) as we got our decorations up. I have to tell you about our new lights from Wilko – NOT a sponsored post in anyway but I think they are fab. They are battery powered and come with batteries and being suitable indoor or outdoor there are no cables trailing across the garden. Then, this is the best bit, they have a built in timer. So you turn them on at whatever time, say 4pm, they stay on for 6 hours and then they will come on the same time the next day and every day after. Genius and timesaving!!PhotoGrid_1449672389832

We adore our Pines and Needles Christmas tree and I do have a special code to get you some freebies if you would be interested in ordering one, check it out here. We also bought a few new decs as some of ours were looking a bit naff. We have a lovelu cushion and throw… and I would like to introduce you to Horace the Christmas reindeer head…. haha Hubs’ choice 🙂

Monkey and I have been doing our Christmas crafting and then Tuesday night I had my little Christmas meal out with my four bestie Mummy friends. An evening full of laughter and fun and I love those girls I really do. No piccies though sadly!

Wednesday the magic continued as my parents, aka Nanny & Pops took us on the Santa Special on the local Nene Valley Railway. My stepdad volunteered on it for a few years so he has been looking forward to taking the kiddies on it. Monkey was so so excited and he adored meeting Father Christmas. LM was far less convinced and actually looked a bit terrified of the big man haha. She enjoyed being with her Nanny & Pops though and she loved her pressie. It got really, really hot on the train but other than that we all loved it. Us 4 grown ups may have had a cheeky baileys too haha. Yum!PhotoGrid_1449672095487

I’ve also got all the Christmas cards written this week, a few presents wrapped ready to meet some friends this weekend and the last bits bought. Hubs and I have gone through all the food orders as we have my family here on Christmas Day and his here on Boxing day. All in all I am feeling much more ready for Christmas now and looking forward to it. How are your plans going? Are you in the festive spirit yet? 2 weeks to go woohoo!!

The Reading ResidenceMummascribblesBest of Worst

Christmas Crafts with a pre-schooler

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Tuesday mornings is Mummy & Monkey time while LM is out with my parents at rhyme time, and it is often a time when the messy play or crafts come out as it means she can’t interfere or eat things she shouldn’t! It is also lovely one on one time with my Monkey. Last week we started our Christmas crafting and had a really lovely time.

I never know what crafts to aim for, I see some gorgeous things on pinterest etc. but I know a lot of the work involved would be done by me, so I tend to stick to simple things I know he can achieve and that he enjoys. So we spend a lot of time just finger painting or car painting haha! I decided on quite a simple actiity to start with that I knew he would enjoy. Making a Christmas tree picture. I cut out the triangles but I asked Monkey to snip at the bottom to be the branches and leaves. I thought this would be a good way to practice his scissor skills and I was dead impressed with the little snips he made. They were very deliberate and neat.PhotoGrid_1449505487227

Then it was a case of gluing and sticking see pretty bits on, something Monkey loves and does really well. We also stuck some cotton wool on for snow.

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Monkey then asked to get the metallic pens out and I confess to thinking this would ruin the picture but he actually did well. I drew some tinsel and he drew some sparkly baubles and stars bless him.PhotoGrid_1449505933980 This didn’t take long so Monkey and I then had a quick look on pinterest together and he said he wanted a go at some pictures we saw of cotton bud painting,  so that was our next activity. I drew somestar shapes and then because he wanted to do it together we dotted and filled them in together. Again I was impressed that he stayed in the lines for the most part. Love seeing his development and he is growing up so much all the time these days!PhotoGrid_1449506057259

He then said he would like to do the same type of picture of a snowman and Christmas tree. So I drew the shapes for these (though I loved Monkey’s addition of a hat for the snowman!!)PhotoGrid_1449506278528 He did well at this though got a bit fixated on the black paint and wanted everything to be black. After a bit of encouragement (and yes a little involvement from me, but not much) we finished the picture then when he wanted to do another picture I let his imagination run a bit more and then even more with the next one!

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Bit of of a devolution but who cares he was having lots of fun! I loved the arms he did on snowman no.2 and apparently the bottom one is also a snowman and the dots are his arms :).

#ToddlerApprovedTuesday

Our Christmas Tree from Pines and Needles

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It’s December, which means that Christmas preparations are in full swing in our house. Are they in yours? The presents are all bought and I’ve written most of the Christmas cards now. We also have our tree and decorations up, and well, what a magnificent tree it is!20151206_192806

This beauty came courtesy of Pines and Needles. A wonderful eco-friendly Christmas Tree company, who would you believe, deliver them right to your door. Now I know there is something lovely about choosing your tree yourself but when you have small kids any shopping trip can be hard work and trying to squeeze a tree into your car in between car seats and all the other paraphernalia… well that can escalate it to nightmare.

This is our second year receiving a fabulous tree from Pines and Needles and we have been so impressed with the quality of everything. Last year we had our tree up from 1st December and it lasted well past Christmas without looking dry. The Nordman Fir is our favourite as it doesn’t drop anywhere near as many needles as a traditional tree but still looks and smells fantastic. They are also very competitively priced in my opinion too and we would easily spend the same amount on a tree in our local garden centre.

20151205_171816It isn’t just trees either as Pines and Needles sell lots of other lovely bits too. The tree stand they provided us with is by far the best and easiest tree stand I have ever used, and the mat is oh so handy as I do have a tendency to spill water when watering the tree! Plus it adds a bit of extra traction on our hard floor making the tree very firm on the ground.

I am a little in love with the garland they sent too, I’ve never had a garland made from a real tree before and it is amazing. It just looks gorgeous on our mantelpiece but also has rope attached very firmly so you could hang it if you wish.20151205_175947

Finally they also sent these gorgeous mini trees for the kiddies which are oh so cute and will be planted in the garden come spring.

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So if you love the idea of a real tree but don’t want the hassle of going and getting one then I cannot recommend Pines and Needles enough. As a little bonus I have a discount code for you to use too.

By using STAY15 at the checkout you would get the following:

Free 10″ Decorated Wreath
Free Holly
Free Mistletoe
Free Mini Tree

Why not give their delivery service a go this year?

We're going on an adventureMummascribbles

An almost perfect Sunday

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Sunday was a pretty perfect day for the most part. One of those days that are just lovely and reminds you how much you love your life. We have been so busy the last month and there seems to be an endless list of to-do things but Sunday we decided to take things a bit easy. We had some leftover roast ham in the freezer and decided to do all the rest of the roast bits to go with it. We had planned to pop and see hubs’ parents that morning but invited them to ours instead to share our roast with us.

We had a lovely morning playing and cooking then I have to admit a lovely roast dinner. It was one of those times when the roast potatoes, veg and yorkshires all miraculously turn out right haha. The negative was that both kids decided to kick off as we sat down to eat. Monkey was eventually reminded tha he does like yorkshire puddings, stuffing and sausages (though of course wouldn’t even try the veg) but LM was pretty miserable, she has back teeth coming through which is causing her a lot of pain. She has always been a good eater but at the moment she is getting fussier and I am hoping it is just because her teeth are causing her problems rather than her going down the same path as her brother!!

Anyway she did eventually settle thanks to cuddles with her Granny and then her and Monkey had some very lovely times together while we were at the table. She thinks her brother is the funniest person alive and laughs her head off when he is silly and tries desperately to copy him!PhotoGrid_1448382683546

After lunch while we cleaned up Monkey and his Granddaddy had a fab playtime. Monkey was basically throwing balls at his Granddaddy and while that isn’t normally allowed, he and his Granddaddy were laughing so hard that I didn’t have the heart to stop it. They were having so much fun together it was really very lovely.PhotoGrid_1448382857615

Later that afternoon after G & G had headed home, hubs’ younger brother Uncle Simon popped round for a play. We had so much fun playing with a couple of Monkey’s games together and it was a lovely peaceful afternoon while LM slept.20151122_142150

I also managed to get a template done for the picture wall we have been planning for ages, in the hope of finally getting it on the wall. Once LM was awake the kiddies and I wrapped up warm and went outside for a good old explore and run around while Daddy was hanging the pictures for us. Monkey has suddenly got the hang of scooting and goes so fast so we soon left the confines of the back garden and went on some of the longer paths nearby.. and he was miles ahead! I do love seeing LM toddle about in her wellies and wooly hat too 🙂PhotoGrid_1448383080187

Monkey then decided he would like to go on his bicycle that we got for his birthday back in May. He has been on it a few times but so far can’t get the hang of pedalling. Daddy came out to help him and though it was getting pretty dark by now he did manage to make a bit of an improvement with his pedalling so hopefully he is getting there.20151122_163303

Soon it was back inside to check out the finished photo wall which I have to admit I am totally in love with! We wanted to do something with the photos from our awesome family photoshoot back in the summer and the photo frame we did have in the hall had fallen off a couple of times so was looking a bit shabby. I love the colour and variety of these frames and am just so pleased with how it has all worked out. I love a good photo wall!20151122_172224

We did the kids some tea (we both ate so much at lunch we weren’t hungry!) then they had a lovely bathtime together full of laughter and lots and lots of splashing. PhotoGrid_1448383368958That evening with the kids in bed hubs and I snuggled up and watched The Secret Life of 5 Year Olds on catch up which is just hilarious. Then, just as were going to bed, we suddenly heard Monkey coughing with the distinctive bark like cough we have come to know and dread. Croup. Again.

We were terrified the first time he had it and again when LM had it and couldn’t believe he had it again. His breathing was laboured and he was very distraught and struggling to catch his breath, so as ever we don’t mess around with breathing, and we called 999. (For the 3rd time ever and the previous twice also being because of croup!) The fast response paramedic was wonderful and so good with Monkey, and Monkey was so brave with all the tests that he did. We managed to calm him down so he was breathing better and his stats were fine so we avoided a trip to the hospital.

It was a night filled with worry though as he still had the horrendous cough and obviously lying down made things worse and his breathing was very laboured at times. You can’t help but worry and it is so hard to sleep as horrible thoughts just fly round your head, while you also feel really daft and like you are over-worrying. Hubs spent over an hour at one point sat outside his bedroom door listening to him until his breathing settled.

So our pretty perfect Sunday had a less than perfect ending, but all is well that ends well and it could have been so much worse. He is still poorly as I write this (Tuesday) and last night he was still barking in the night. Hopefully tonight will be better and he will gradually improve.

Best of WorstLife Unexpected