Mothers Day

Monday 31 March 2014



This year I was well and truly spoilt for Mothers Day. First of Little Mr didn't get up till 8.15 which was great especially as the clocks had gone forwards too. We had a lazy hour in bed where I was treated to breakfast and so was Little Mr actually.  Maybe next year he will help make the breakfast. I got a lovely handmade card. I always prefer gifts that have some time, thought and personalisation in them compared to something that you could give to any one.
 
 
 
I also got this fantastic personalised story which we all read together in bed.
 

Car selfie on the way to Whitby. Both babies were fast asleep, luckily my Dad has a spacious car so it wasn't too squishy between two car seats.
                 

 
Arguments Yard the irony being we never have arguments, honest ;)

 

Little Miss thoroughly enjoyed the bumpy ride over the cobbled streets.


My beautiful view while we sat and ate fish and chips.
We also headed to the beach where we played chase with the sea, played football and the dogs ran wild.






                                                     
 

 
                                                        
 
                                                


Remember the small things #1

Saturday 29 March 2014

In attempt to remember all of the small things that make a happy family we are going to make a record of them here. We will include a picture and a short caption with each. Short and sweet.

So our first post will start right here right now.

Remember the small things #1



The lingering gazes from Little Miss to her big brother.



Spring Paintings

Friday 28 March 2014

Yippee spring is in the air and the house and garden are full of flowers. What better inspiration for some spring panting. Little Mr loves painting and being outside so we decided to add our own dash of spring colour to the garden.



  

We used foam paint which is a firm favourite in our house.


                               Little Mr aged 2

This is what we ended up with. Note Little Mr's favourite colour this week is red, hence the red leaves too.

Little Miss is a little too young for outside painting as yet but still wanted to get in on the action. We decided to use Centre Parcs creative director Emma's top tip of finger painting. 

 


 




However it turns out finger/hand printing is a little tricky with a baby who loves to clench her fists and a toddler intent on painting everything in sight red. we swiftly decided to move onto feet.



                               Little Miss 4months


We had great time!




Oh and this is what happens to your patio doors if you turn your back for a second.
"Look at my lovely window flower painting Mummy"
 
 
 

This is my entry to Centre Parcs and Tots100 March challenge. If I am chosen I would like to visit Sherwood Forest.

 


It's the weekend!!

Friday 28 March 2014

My most favourite part of the week in Friday it always has been. Admittedly the reasons go it being my favourite day have changed big time. Once it was the excitement of getting glammed up to party away the end of the week with promises of lazy lie ins, casual lunch dates, a spot of shopping,cinema trips maybe even another night out to showcase the new shoes.

Now it is the excitement of the door opening as my hubby gets back from work and the excitement of spending the weekend together just as a four, they are our favourite weekends.  This weekend will be a little different as it is Mothers Day so we are heading to the coast. I do love Sunday lunches but we do that all the blooming time so instead we like to go somewhere especially now we have our own children. This will be my first Mother's Day having a daughter as well as a son I can't wait. It was a great day on Little Mr's first Mother's Day, I finally felt like I belonged to 'the club'. The day becomes all the more special when you have your own children to share it with. I am lucky enough to have my mum around to share the day with too so can only imagine that the day becomes tinged with sadness if you don't.  I know it's only one day of 365 more but it must bring it home all the more. It really makes me want to cherish the ones I have.





Yikes, what do you do when you finish the Sopranos box set?

Thursday 27 March 2014

Now in our house during pregnancy and the early days of baby hood we have had a staple box set to see us through the many nights of broken sleep. With Little Mr we settled with the Friends box set. It was something easy to watch that we could dip in and out of and it didn't really matter if we fell asleep before he end as we had seen them all any how.

It was a different story with Little Miss. Perhaps because we were already accustomed to the customary sleep depravation that comes with children we decided to go for some thing more meaty. We settled on the Sopranos. It had been patiently been waiting to be watched for a few months but we just hadn't got around to it. Now felt like the ideal time. Now Mr H was immediately taken butI must admit it took me longer, however after watching a few back to back I was filmy hooked.

I would seriously recommend it as a pregnancy/maternity leave box set. It it about an Italian American mob. Tony Soprano being the head of the mob. Inevitably it contains some violence but throughout the season the characters are developed exceptionally. I really felt like I knew them and surprisingly sympathetic towards them even when they may have committed something horrific. 

Our only problem now is we are in limbo. What do we watch now?! We need another box set. 

Mr H on the other hand found a gem of a book.

                                    

Full of lots of hearty Italian meals, Mr H had a tough time trying to decide what to cook first. He finally settled on a baked ziti which included  the staple 'gravy' (not like your normal gravy) which features in lots of the recipes. It was lovely and went down very well with little Mr too. The book seems full of pretty  good staple family meals. Hopefully the will stave off Mr H's pining for the series.








Where is the snow Mummy?

Wednesday 26 March 2014

Where is the snow Mummy?
 This is a question we have been hearing a lot lately from Little Mr. Who can blame him really it is exciting and the play opportunities are endless. Unfortunately it doesn't look like we are going to get any of the white stuff (cue big snow storm overnight). So I made Little Mr his own snowy small world. Not as good as the real thing but Little Mr enjoyed it none the less.
I used a big tray, a few of our Happy Land toys for a mountain,  snow cave and ice caps. I used a favourite of ours, shaving foam to create the snow. I added ice cubes too to create an extra dimension to the sensory play.
We even managed to make our own snowmen with the foam. Little Mr has been desperate to build one since he saw some pictures of the ones we built last year.
Little Mr had lots of adventures with his figures. Mostly involving saving someone from the top of the snowy mountain. It is brilliant to play along side him but equally I love the moments when I watch him play independently.  He really is developing a great imagination and is able to formulate his own role play ideas. It makes me so proud to see.
Mrs H


One of THOSE days

Tuesday 25 March 2014

Now maybe it's just me but today really has been one of THOSE days. I hope nobody thinks I am ungrateful for what I have, I am certainly not and I do tell myself one day I will miss here hectic moments.

So it went a little like this.
Little Mr refused his breakfast because his spoon was dirty after he had put it into his cereal.  He cried because he wanted to keep his pjs on, and then layer as he wanted them off. Little Miss had a lie in but she is a little off weather with a slight temperature, which means she is wingey. She is not a baby that cries usually and I know we are very lucky for that. We had a nice time building an enchanted forest out of play doh, but we had tears because his road was purple and he wanted it red even though he chose purple!! Little Miss had 3 outfit changes by lunch time due to explosions from one end or the other. She decided she was hungry, I mean mega hungry not been fed in EVER hungry  so screamed blue murder at the precise point little Mr needed the toilet. I have these point when you are split between the two when they both need you equally and deserve your attention but what's you do, who do you see to first?!? In this instance I chose to position Little Mr by the potty and sit and feed Little Miss. The extra freedom for Little Mr meant he decided to do some sort of hokey cokey dance whilst doing his business - I am very grateful to everyone who steered me away from replacing our laminate flooring with carpets!

Which leads me to where I am now feeding little Miss and resorting to a spot of Cbeebies because today is one of THOSE days.




Spring is on its way!!

Tuesday 25 March 2014

Recently we had some visitors for a play date. One of my oldest friends from university and her little girl. It's not often we get to meet up as we live over 70 miles apart but it is always lovely when we do. It's great to see our children play together - very different to our party hard university days.

                         


As it is officially spring I thought I would used springtime as the theme for the days activity table.  

                                
      

Little Mr has a cute yellow suitcase that was perfect for making a spring treasure chest. It actually belongs to Little Miss as we received an outfit in it when she was born. The case is just as great as the outfit and I have used it for many many things.

                                  

I made the case up the evening before. Filled it with shredded green paper, fluffy chicks, soft multi coloured balls and some plastic eggs which ad hidden surprises inside. I bought some daffodils too to add a delicious springy smell.
  
                                  

Little Mr picked out these two teddys before bed to add to the spring time theme (with a little help as we may have ad Buzz and Woody from Toy Story).


   

I also laid out a sticking activity using some Easter from stickers. Little Mr loves stickers at the moment but still needs a little help with these as the back are tricky to get off. So not a great independent activity.


After a morning full of fun and play we had set of lunch and then headed to the park.  It had been. A lovely day when we set off but started to throw it down so we took shelter in the local shop. A great idea with two hyped up children (NOT, see photo evidence, ha) but still better than getting soaked. It was a great day  and lovely to catch up with old friend especially when they have very exciting news to share ;) I haven't got many pictures of the actual day, I am always too busy enjoying the moment I forget half of the time.


Here Little Miss as with all the excitement with the older two she missed out on her usual activities and play. We had lots of cuddles to catch up later though which was great.

1st Day at Playgroup

Monday 24 March 2014

Dear Little Mr,

Today was your first day at playgroup.  How we got here so quickly we will never know. You will be three in a few weeks yet it seems like only yesterday you came into our lives.  We are so proud of the little boy that you are, so chatty, friendly and funny to boot, you are a born entertainer. It was with a mix of emotions that Mummy  dropped you off this morning. So proud of you all ready, excitedly waving your carefully prepared packed lunch eagerly waiting to leave. Yet at the same time there was a tinge of sadness that you are growing up so quickly. We wanted to take a picture of you by the entrance to freeze the moment in time but you were so excited to be there running in, hanging up your hat and coat and settling in to play with the cars. We wouldn't have it any other way, a true example of the confident, secure and happy little boy that you are. Mummy popped back after half an hour to drop a letter of for the kind ladies that work there and had a sneaky peek through the window. You looked very happy playing with the other boys and girls. Mummy went home and managed to get lots of jobs done and a tidy house but couldn't wait to collect you so you could mess it all up again. To make the day go more quickly Mummy went to the shops something that you don't like doing so much. By 2.50pm we waited eagerly with the other Mummies and Daddies ready to pick you up. You had had a lovely day. Eaten all of your lunch, played cars, play-doh, played outside, sang songs and listened to stories to name a few things you reeled off in excitement when we collected you.  Most of all you greeted me with a huge hug, and Mummy loves your hugs so much. We hurried home for your tea as you were very tired after doing lots of new things. When Daddy got home you told him about your day but were really really tired so we took you up to get ready for bed. Once in your pj's we had a snuggle on the rocking chair whilst you drank your milk. What a perfect moment. You fell asleep before a bedtime story tonight but the snuggles were so worth it.

We are so proud of you and love you with all of our hearts.

Lots of love
Mummy and Daddy




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