Remember the small things #9

Saturday 31 May 2014


Always so smiley.

Our week that was!

Friday 30 May 2014



We have had a lovely week even though it has rained and rained. This week was a blank canvas as our usual classes and play groups were cancelled because of half term. Weeks like this are my favourite type, lazy mornings, late breakfasts, endless games at home and seeing friends and family without the need to dash and clock watch.

Saturday

We met one of my oldest and bestest friends for a spot of lunch and catch up in town. We don't see each other that often so iris always great to catch up. I then headed out with her later minus the kiddies and husband for more drink, this time lots of adult ones. Oh and a spot of dancing too, we had such fun which was long over due.
 


Sunday

Today started with a small (huge) hangover, I am not sure I can party like the old times any more. However  I found myself overcompensating for my hangover so probably got more accomplished than I may have otherwise. A high light of the day was heading to the cinema to watch Postman Pat the movie. Well the movie was pretty lame if I am honest but Little Mr loved it. So did Little Miss though she had a snooze mid film, oh how I wish I could have done the same. 
 

Monday

On Monday we headed over to my In-laws for a Birthday Buffet. They are both having birthdays over the next week but will be away on holiday so we took our presents and the card that Little Mr and Little Miss made for their Grandma. We made her an extra special card as she will be having a milestone Birthday.

                                        

                               

Tuesday

Today we headed to Sheffield. We stopped for a spot of lunch with friends from my university days. We are all getting married and having babies now so there is always something new and exciting to catch up on. This time it was a friends engagement proposal in New York. It took me back as that is where me and the hubby got engaged.  After lunch we headed to a soft play as there is only so long you can expect toddlers to sit nicely for. I love watching our children play together.

                                

Wednesday

This was our lazy day of the week, well lazy morning anyway. We had a lie in, well I class 8 am as a lie in don't you?! We were awake but we just stayed snuggled under the quilt watching TV. Later I had an appointment with my health visitor to discuss Little Miss's allergic reactions and see how she was. So I dropped Little Mr off at my Mums. The weather was pants yet again so we got caught out in a down pour mid journey from the car to the childrens centre. On our return we were greeted with some fabulous post on our doormat. Our Merlin annual family pass from Kellogg's had arrived. We are so excited to start using it.

                        


Thursday

                       


We started today building a fireman/camper small world. Little Mr loves creating his own stories with the figures. At the moment he seems to love being the hero whilst I get to be the monkey/dragon/monster *delete as appropriate. We then headed to my Dads for a cuppa and a catch up. We spent the afternoon den making and 'mountain' climbing in the living room.

                                    

Today was also a big day for Little Miss. We put her in her own room in her cot for the first time on a night. She only lasted a couple of hours but still it's a start.

                                     

Friday

We visited a local petting farm today called Piglets. We love visiting as there is always loads to do. We were a little worried about the weather but it stayed dry albeit cloudy all day. Our highlights were Little Mr Miss and myself all jumping on the bouncy pillows, riding the blue tractors and Little Mr's favourite, seeing a sheep get a 'haircut'.

We have had a lovely chilled week with little clock watching, but we have missed all our usual groups so will be looking forward to them next week.

Have you had a good week? What have you been upto?




















Weaning Stumble

Wednesday 28 May 2014



We recently started weaning Little Miss and the first week went great. I had it all planned out, I had even timetabled in what she was to have and when and made up a stash of our own baby food. During her first week she didn't really eat much as such just had a taste and spat most out. I wasn't too worried about this as she is clearly thriving and my little boy was much the same. This past week she has properly eaten, not much but still eaten. I may have got carried away and offered her a finger of toast etc but it was great to see her chomping away.

                                          

Unfortunately during the last few days she has reacted to something she has eaten, with and upset tummy and blotchy red rash. I have also never seen nappy rash like it and it makes me feel terribly guilty that something I have given her may have caused it. Thankfully heaps of sudocrem and nappy off time are doing the trick to heal her bottom. The worst part is I am not really sure what caused it, my thoughts are either the baby porridge/bread but we are not 100%.

However we have stopped all food for now and will continue with breastfeeds only until the rash completely clears. Then we will be back to the drawing board. We are going to introduce each food really slowly this time giving a couple of days on each and then moving on. Hopefully this helps us pin point what it was and introduce it really slowly.

Did you experience any stumbles on your weaning journey? 
Super Busy Mum

Literacy Dig

Wednesday 28 May 2014





Recently Little Mr has been getting more and more frustrated about not being able to read. Each night we have at least one bed time story along with others through the day. He used to be content repelling himself the story using the pictures. However he now recognises the text and that it has a meaning but to him they are just squiggles if you like so he becomes frustrated. Every since he was tiny he has always had a love of books. We would read the 'that's not my...' Series of touchy freely books. Even from as young as 8 months he was showing an understanding of left to right correspondence and looking for the hidden mouse on each page. He engages with stories now and can answer simple questions such as What might happen next? And he can join in with parts of his favourite stories such as Room on the Broom. He really is ready now though for the next step in his reading journey.

So with this in mind I set up a letter dig. I wanted to help encourage him to recognise the letters and there names to begin with. So I buried the letters for him to find and place in the jigsaw. To begin with I have left this activity as an invitation to play, so with very little input from me. I plan on introducing the letters as and when he is ready. Certain ones he already has such as 'S'.

I used sensory salt to bury the letters. It is a mix I use regularly at work. If is great as children can trace letters in it too. At home I have a large shallow tray which is perfect for keeping it all contained.

Sensory salt:
1 cup talc
1 cup salt
Poster paint (enough to change the colour but not go gloopy)
Glitter


I keep mine in a jar it lasts for ages. I made this 2 months ago and it has been used for lots of activities such a moon sand space role play, and letter writing.

I am really looking forward to this next exciting step in Little Mr's journey.





Personalised Wedding Gift

Monday 26 May 2014

Now I am a little old fashioned when it comes to weddings and gifts, I much prefer to give a gift than a voucher or money and I am not really a fan of being told what to buy through a gift list either. So for our most recent wedding I made up a simple hamper with some hand crafted labels. One of my favourite purchases for my craft stash was a letter stamp set. I have used it countless times and love the effect it creates.
 
 
 
I chose luggage labels to stamp on for this gift to give a shabby chic, vintage feel. We were a little limited on budget as along with travel, outfits, hotel plus two more weddings and the fact we are now living on one wage, but I think we managed to pull off a presentable and thoughtful gift.
 
I chose a smallish basket, it was smaller than I needed but that stopped me buying more to fill it with. As soon as I saw the date block I knew I had to have it as I liked the idea of setting the date to their wedding day. I also packed the hamper with old fashioned sweets, a candle, prosecco (switched at the last minute as the bride doesn't drink wine), a photo frame, plus crafty things for their children.
 



As the bride and groom already have 3 children I wanted to give them something that they could all have a part of hence the crafty things and sweets.

 
Ideally I would have wrapped this with cellophane however there was a severe shortage the day I went shopping and so tissue paper it was. I finished with ribbon and a Just married slate heart. I personalised this with there wedding date and wrote a message on the back too.
 
Now I have to think of something creative for the next wedding?!
 
 

Little Miss In Pictures

Sunday 25 May 2014

I can't believe that Little Miss is already 6 months old. I mean 6 MONTHS!! How did the time go so quickly, its half a year. Cliche I know but it has gone so much more quickly the second time around, I am sure anyone with more than one would agree. 

Now I take a lot of pictures of my children whether its on my phone, the husbands phone, the IPad, or camera. It is so easy to take pictures nowadays and keep a record of your child's early years. Most of my pictures are on the hop, mid action or activity as I am not too keen on sit and smile at the camera approach, it seems to false and staged for me and not really capturing the true memory or moment. Anyway recently I have been thinking how I have fewer pictures of Little Miss on her own than Little Mr (for obvious reasons) but I thought it would be nice to get some of just her. They are not the best pictures for a few reasons 1, she isn't feeling too great and 2, we were in a rush to get our baking out of the oven. But I love them. My favourite is the last one.











A nice day for a white wedding

Thursday 22 May 2014

Last weekend we travelled all the way to Sunny Suffolk for a family wedding. We travelled down on the morning of the wedding arriving in plenty of time to get ready changed into our glad rags.

The weather was perfect and the sun shone brightly the whole day long. Little Mr and Little Miss were just fantastic all day as weddings can be a long day for all involved. There were quite a few children at the wedding and it was lovely to see them all run around together and enjoy the day.









 
 
I love weddings, from the ceremony to the food to the disco, but I think once you have had your own no one else's compares really.
 
What is your favourite part of a wedding? Do you have any coming up?


Wedding Outfits!

Tuesday 20 May 2014



We are lucky enough to have been invited to a few weddings this year. So I thought I would share our first round of outfits.



Mummy

My dress is from the Prettydresscompany.com. I love the colour of the dress. It is made from quite a stiff fabric which helps hide Mummy lumps and bumps, especially important since it is quite figure hugging.
 
My shoes are from  Next and were a last minute purchase really (because the hubby offered to buy me them) as I had some nude ones but fancied a splash of colour albeit a very muted splash. I treated myself to the white leather bag also from Next which will get lots of use over Summer.





Daddy

He wore a brand new suit from Hugo Boss. It was bought on a recent trip to the Trafford Centre for a small fortune but looks great. I think it's a great colour and is a huge treat as he is unlikely to be able to buy one like this again over the next few years.

His shoes are from Ted Baker. They were a present for our tenth anniversary (together not married). You cant actually see them on any of these pictures but they are lovely brown brogues.


Little Mr


Little Mr has a smashing little number from Next.  I knew I wanted to dress him in red socks to stand out against the suit. I chose a pair of shoes from the Little Bird range, which I adore and used red laces.


Little Miss



Little 'Miss is wearing a cream dress with a lacy overlay from French Connection. She wore the dress with frilly knickers. I omitted the vest and socks as it was so hot.

My Shelfie

Tuesday 20 May 2014


This month Tots 100 hundred are teaming up with Victoria plumb and asking bloggers to share a shelfie. Everybody has heard of a selfie, but have you heard of a shelfie. A picture capturing a shelf in your home. In return bloggers are in with a chance of winning £500. You can find out more here.


I love the idea of a shelife, mostly because I am onset and like to take a peek into other peoples homes. Here is my shelfie.



It is without doubt my favourite corner of our home.  I love it because it holds so many special memories for us. I love love our clock. It was a wedding present from my Mum and is one we get to see each and everyday.

Our shelf also displays three special pictures, one of each of my babies and then together with their Daddy. You can also see a candle hiding behind one of the frames. It is a beautiful rose candle that my Dad bought for me from Laura Ashley but I can't bring myself to burn it yet, it's too pretty. Everyone has candles like that right??

My shelf is also home to a croaked mirror vase. It holds the same flowers that were in my bridesmaid bouquets. Admittedly not the exact ones as these are fake but they live in the vase when there are no real flowers.

We also have my sons fish George. Well he is mostly called George some days he is called Goldie.

Finally we have our lamp which I adore.

So as part of the Victoria Plum and Tots 100 competition there was also the chance to find out what your celeb style is by taking the Victoria Plumb Great British Home quiz.

Here are my results:



Well I am not too sure how I feel about being compared to Joey Essex!! But I do love cushions, family portraits also take pride of place, and I do have a shiny red Kitchen Aid taking pride of place in the kitchen. So if the cap fits I will gladly take the glamorous style badge. 

What is your home style? 

Take the Great British Home quiz and find out and you could be in with a chance to win £250 of John Lewis vouchers.

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