December 23, 2011

CHRISTMAS: PART TWO


And so it contiunes...... December has gone so fast, and today it's the day before Christmas Eve & there's still so much to do!! 
We have friends visiting this morning, family arriving this evening, then we are driving to meet some more family for lunch tomorrow & somewhere in that chaos, i need to go to the supermarket to get some last minute bits & make & wrap some last minute presents for some friends .... 


We made these for all the teachers at school too....



Everyone here is so excited, and can't wait for the 'big fat man with the long white beard! (as sang by Florences' favourite Mr Buble! We are hearing that album A LOT, along with Cliff Richards 'Mistletoe & Wine' which she demands on repeat on full blast. Honestly, where does she get her taste from??!? Dexters not doing so badly - his fave Christmas song is Paul McCartney's 'Wonderful Christmastime' so at least he's getting some Beatles in there, right? No, not quite....
And us? We'll we are in love with 'A very She & Him Christmas' this year, it's the best Christmas album going i reckon. It's that which will slowly serenade us towards the big day..... ONLY 2 MORE SLEEPS!!

December 05, 2011

CHRISTMAS: PART ONE




Well, it's only the 5th of December two very important traditions have already taken place! A visit to Father Christmas & putting the fairy on the tree. It was Dexters' turn this year & Flo didn't have a complete loony tune hissy fit about that, oh no, not one bit.......(ahem). Anyway, the kiddos wanted as much colour on the tree as possible this year, so all my white & red scandi decs didn't even get a look in as we made way for pinks, blues, glitters & even a god awful thing which is Santa in a VW Beetle But hey, they're happy with tac, and our tree does look exactly as it should - as camp as Christmas! 




CRACKINGTON HAVEN



We just had a lovely 5 days down in my favorite part of Cornwall, Crackington Haven. We always rent the same cottage at least once a year & just spend time enjoying the area. We were lucky enough to experience a lovely mild November & for the most part we just relaxed (i'm going to leave out the bit about another gallstone attack & the nearest A&E department being a whole hour away in Devon!) and recharged our batteries ready for Christmas. Lovely!







November 25, 2011

PACKING


We are off on a little relaxing break down to our favourite corner of Cornwall. Just for a few days we will relax, sleep in, eat nice food, drink nice wine, catch up with friends & enjoy some sea therapy. We visit the same cottage every year, but we've never been this far out of season before. For me, that kind of takes the pressure off a little bit, not having to jam-pack every day with activity. This time we can just all be together, chilling out, and i've got a feeling i'm going to need a fair bit of chilling out considering the stress that is packing up for a family of 5! The photie above is just my change bag, the stuff I cart about daily (tell me about it!) let alone what i need for 5 nights! I actually took it a while ago for a different post, but just found it as I was emptying my camera ready for the trip.



See you all soon, when i'm rested & ready for Christmas!

November 14, 2011

NEW THANG: BLOG CRUSHING!



It's got to the time of year where blogging for me has become a little bit like the last thing I have time to do. Oh you know how it is; shorter days with the same amount of stuff to get done, cold evenings snuggled on the sofa with arms refusing to vacate the warmth of the throw to get on the 'puter and then of course, arrrgh - the start of the dreaded Christmas shopping taking up every spare thought in my brain along with every spare hour in my day.
Strangely though (!), i still manage to find time to have a quick peek at my fave blogs. Normally this happens most mornings after i've checked the news & fed the kiddos. It's just my way of starting my day - alongside 3 cups of coffee!
One of the blogs i love to check in on all the time is one i've mentioned on here before - Buggy & Bean and when I first decided I was going to do this Blog Crush idea as a regular thing I thought 'well, I can't do Amy's again' after my mum in the shot post where I gushed about her just a little bit... but THEN I SAW THIS and then THIS and oh my - i just had to keep on click click clicking her blog links to all the fab & a-maz-ing parties she has hosted & posted.

It's not just her fabulous partying skills I love this blog for obviously (!), it's the whole feel of it which makes you smile, and as a mum makes me think "yep, i get you". It's a lovely thing to read Amy's parenting journey, which sits alongside in perferct harmony with her artistic & creative flair and above all, her cracking sense of humour, which as a dry Brit, i get perfectly *wink* ha!

I fall in love with blogs all the time, and for so many different reasons, but Buggy & Bean is the first one I want to shout about. This blog's got it going on - you'd be a crazy to not jump on it! Enjoy x

October 28, 2011

BABY GIRL & ME


Over the last couple of days I've been trying my flippin' damdest to get a lovely glowing picture of me & my 6 month old baby girl! All I wanted was something to pin in her baby book for the 6 month stage. I knew I wanted something easy, natural & un-pretentious, just something special, yet captured without being staged....

BUT, instead whilst messing about with photo-booth one morning in the kitchen, I ended up taking these & I reckon they capture something lovely! Yeah, she may not have been in the mood for her Vogue moment and i totally look like a complete nut, but she sure know's how to giggle, and oh my, that sound is like gold & the perfect soundtrack for these haphazard shots..... 

enjoy x








I am so, so lucky x

October 24, 2011

LATELY // 3

This weeks kitchen themed Bits & Pieces joining in with Bleubird's Friday ritual! 
Enjoy....








1. Live  2. Dexter art  3. Sweet treats  4. Pretty recipe cards  5. Pretty cutlery  6. Pretty bowls  7. Soup season.



October 23, 2011

CATCH UP


What. A. Week! Gallstones anyone?
To cut a long story short i seem to have gallstones which, when they decide to attack you, hurt A LOT. So after a early morning dash to A&E and a big fat dose of morphine later, they have settled for now & I'm just waiting for some more tests to find out a bit more about my little visitors. In the mean time i've been told to avoid fatty foods, and seemingly that means I eat chicken. Lots of chicken. Oh & salad/water/dust - you get the picture. I actually feel great now, but i NEVER EVER want to go through that pain again. Give me child birth any day.

Aaaaanyway, enough about that. This week Dexy turned 6. SIX i tell you! How did that happen? The poor little man had a bit of a boring day by all accounts because of my hospital visit but we made up for it with a Halloween themed birthday party for a few of his friends a couple of days after

We also had the school harvest celebration, which the kiddos made some fab veggie monsters for. They were so proud of them and couldn't wait to take them in. Cuteness!

Here are some pics.... Enjoy x










October 16, 2011

MUM IN THE SHOT




So, I always read Buggie & Jellybean because i love pretty much everything about it. I love Amy's parenting methods, i love her sense of humor & i love her crock pot pulled pork recipe ;) She also takes fun & gorgeous snaps of her kiddos and seems to skip through life generally having a lovely time. What's not to love about that?! 
It's through reading Amy's most recent Mom in the Shot post that I learnt all about fab blog The Anderson Crew and especially the 'Embrace the Camera' project, which i think is a really good idea. 
Basically, it's trying to get us blogger mums in a few of the piccies we post, and as my blog was primarily set up to document Dexy, Flo & then later Indi as they grow up, i thought i'd jump on board and (very!) occasionally post some pics of me with them. 
So, here's my first participating collection of shots i guess.... I liked the idea of just snapping right there and then with no setting up, hence the webcam shot. The minute the kiddos saw photobooth open up they were there, joining me & Indi! 
I think they came out lovely, and i like the pics a lot - even if i do have no make up on, and bags the size of the moon (thanks for those by the way Indi!) 


October 08, 2011

LATELY // 2

This weeks lot, joining in again with Bleubird's Friday ritual









1. Chalkboard party planning  2. Kitchen flowers  3. Doodling  4. Autumn fruit bowl  5. Busy  6. A new friend  7. Accidental snapping

October 04, 2011

BABY INDI EATS


The time has come for Little Miss Indi to - if she's anything like her mama - begin her life long love affair with food!  So it was time to stock up on some lovely organic & seasonal fruit & veggies ready to whizz up & freeze for the messy journey ahead, alongside the mountain of equipment we needed. I went to JoJo's, Cath Kidston & Argos & decided we needed these ice cube pots, this genius feeder, these bowls, this little sippy cup and of course a highchair - I chose this Mamu one. And with all this, we were pretty much good to go.
So, i began peeling, chopping, de-seeding, steaming & whizzing like a mad thing , to errr,  not actually produce much food. Hmmm. Indi is on 3 meals a day, she needs a fair sized amount of this stuff, so for now i'm buying in (3 kids, 6 school runs, only so many hours in the day etc etc)!
So, Indi is now a big fan of Ella's Kitchen which is perfect for us as the amount of time my little lady spends out & about, defrosting food ice-cubes would prove a bit of a problem.  Her fave has to be the brocolli, pears & peas & we get huge smiles when she sups that off her teeny little plastic spoon. She's fast becoming a real pro at this eating lark, and it's pretty fun for me too. Her faces are of comedy gold when she tries something new for the first time, and sssssssssh, but as a brucey bonus, she slept from 18:45 right through to 6:30am last night!! Whooooo Hooooooo, having a full tummy rocks! But then, her mama could have told you that already....

Here's some more snaps. Enjoy x





Yay for orange food & no clean bibs!!