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!) 

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

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!!

CRAZY BUSY

Say's it all really. I am so so busy & it's seriously eating into blogging time. I know i moaned about this already this month, so at the risk of sounding like a broken record, i'm going to carry on. Even as i prep this blog (it's 7am on a Sunday morning)......... OH, WAIT A MOMENT......

leaves room sighing & eye rolling

.......RESUME! See what i'm talking about?! (well, no you don't as you don't live here but just go with me). Just then, when i'd managed to type a whole 3 & a half sentences, i get dragged upstairs to find a sock. Turns out no-one has any clean undies, well they do, but my steam ran out yesterday before I put anything away. That is seriously the most annoying, pointless and time consuming chore in the whole world - putting clothes away. You spend ages doing it, only to have someone parade around in them some 12 hours later smearing chocolate all over them as if to stick two fingers up to your domestic goddess attempts. Argh! Anyway, i digress. 

I really am rather busy. And confused by every sodding thing that needs doing around here. So confused in fact, that i was late to pick up little miss from school on Wednesday. I had on my calendar 12 noon. I had in my diary 12 noon. I had on my iphone organiser 12 noon. The letter sent home from school said 12 noon. Every living soul on earth knew it was 12 noon. Except for me & my cotton wool brain who had decided it was 12:30. So, there you have it - a black mark against me, week 4 of school. Damn. (She was fine by the way, a friend stayed with her & called me & the mister had her picked up & in my arms by 12:07, so hopefully she won't be scarred for life & we can hold off on the therapy sessions- for now.)

Every single day on my calendar has at least 3 things on it to do, and for the most part, i get them done, it's just .... ARGH! HANG ON - i currently have a blue lightsaber smacking me around the face ......... OK. 

..... this week has been even more busy. I had a birthday which was lovely, I had Dr's apps, I had play dates coming out of my ears, 6 school runs a day and a girls night out with 15 other friends to prepare for and the week just ran away with me.  And to top it all off, Indi is a poorly little lady. Coughing and sneezing pretty much all the time, but the doc has checked her over & we pretty much have to just ride it out, but there are sleepless nights a plenty going on here.....

So, yep. Just because I'm busy, doesn't mean I don't love you! x

LATELY // 1

Finally got around to joining in with Bleubird Vintages Bits and Pieces this week. So here we go, enjoy!

1. Slipper Season. 2. Birthday Cards. 3. Stocks. 4. Dexter's note. 5. Saturday Morning lie in.

LATELY // 1

This last 2 weeks have been manic! Stupidly I thought i'd have more time once the kiddos went back to school, but no. I'm back & forth to those school gates like a flippin' boomerang as Flo is only doing mornings.  So, it's been ages since I blogged, or even took an interesting photo, or even done an interesting thing. I could blog about how much i'm ironing name lables into blue school uniform, but it's dull. Very dull. So instead i'll just witter on briefly about how fabulous my little miss Flo is doing at school! I think i've mentioned before about the nightmare year she has had at Pre-School in terms of leaving me, so the fact that she is literally S.K.I.P.P.I.N.G to school every day is amazing & lovely to see. Her teacher pulled me aside this morning to tell me what a lovely, kind & confident girl she is, and my heart melted just a little bit! Dexy is loving being one of the big year one guys - all grown up & doing brilliantly already. And, little miss Indi is now a big old eater! Well, kind of. By eater, i mean she's sucking veggie slop off of a spoon, but she loves it, and we love watching her hilarious faces as she tries something new for the first time! She is comedy gold... i've got some snaps of that on my other camera for another post.

So, that in a nutshell is the past 2 weeks here - here's just a couple pics. Enjoy x

BAD DAY DESERVES A GOOD SUPPER

Argh!
As much as I worship the very ground they walk on, my little darlings have almost finished me off today. To say today was pretty much the day from hell is an understatement, and it just kept going & going & going.
It started off with school shoe shopping (i should have known then it would all end in tears). Now, I  thought I was being a right smart arse getting to the shoe shop by 9am, obviously beating every other mum who has left it to the last minute to get the school shoes, but -ahem- no, not so much..... Every single child in the WORLD needed their feet measuring apparently. Today. Right here in Bath. At 9am. (Do you even know how insanely impossible it actually is to get three kids out of the house by 8:45?)
So, there we stood with the best of them in the vacuum sealed shoe shop waiting with our little ticket, like something fun was about to happen. Until finally, one of the 'expert measurers' plonked my kids on a machine that expertly measured their feet on the 'expert measurers' behalf and then proceeded to whip my kids up into a frenzy about some shoe that has a toy in the heel. A toy in the heel which actually adds £10 to the price of the shoe. So obviously they both want this heel toy concoction and were not moving until they had them. To be honest, I would have let them have the moon on a stick at that point due to little India adding to the ambience with her rendition of 'get me out of this freakin' buggy now woman' at the top of her lungs.

That joyus experience cost me £75. That's food out the window this week then.

And then it went on & today, Florence was the gift that just kept on giving. Tantrum about no sweets in the Supermarket. Tantrum about the arm off of her new shoe toy falls off. Tantrum because I wouldn't let her eat 4 yoghurts before dinner. Tantrum from Flo because..... well, it had been 5 minutes since the last one so WHY THE HELL NOT.

And, India's teething BAD and will not be put down (thanks Chris) and Dex just joined in on any old rucus that was going on. Although he did instigate a few things and called me Mrs Poohead Billimore at one point. Not funny at 5pm when it's screamed in your face, but kind of funny now after a glass of red wine.

And breath....

Actually, why am I re-living this? Am I mental (that's rhetorical thank-you very much) Do you see what these holidays have done to me, do you????

So, anyway - School is back next week and what's the betting that by day 2 I will miss them like crazy?

Madness.

SIMPLY PRETTY

I thought i'd share some snaps i've taken over the last couple of days. Nothing really marries them, apart from the fact that they are all simply nice photo's. Enjoy!

Somerset countryside

Surf dude Dexter

Flo looooves ice cream

Happy as always - India 

India & mama

MISS MISERY GUTS

Urgh. This week has pretty much sucked. Apart from a couple of nice lunch dates with family & friends, it's been pretty grim. The weather has been awful (again), the stuff on the news has been so depressing with all the mindless rioting - how upsetting to see so many of my old stomping grounds brought to their knees - and to top it all off, all 3 kiddos have the worst hacking cough. I ended up taking 16 week old Indi to see the doc as it's just so awful to see something so sweet & tiny having such a hard time - it breaks my heart. It really doesn't help that we live in one of the most polluted cities in Europe & with soooo much traffic here during the hot summer months it's no wonder we feel like we're suffocating some days (at 3am this morning I was so annoyed with Bath & it's air quality that I was surfing properties in Falmouth! Don't think a move is on the cards though).  So, for the last 3 nights, sleep has been pretty limited, and I am a total zombie. I have a perma-drip of caffine running through my veins in a vain (!) attempt to keep my eyes open, and my arms & legs working in some sort of manner. BUT - things could be worst, a lot lot worst i know so as much as I like pissing & moaning about poor little old me, i thought i'd try and turn that frown upside down (i know i know, i even hate myself for using that line) - so off I pootled to pintrest for some happy therapy (that's looking at pretty pictures to you & me). This is what I found..... enjoy!

One day i will my own Airstream. And it will look like this!

How adorable is this!! Kinda funny too...

I'd love love love to live here.

This is such a fab idea. Will start doing this i think with our kitchen black board.

I love the colours. Perfect :)

Sources: one two three four five

SEASIDE

Ahhh, summer.
Glorious sunny, warm, balmy summer.
Long lazy days, filled with the kids tearing strips off of each other children playing happily, burnt sausages beautifully marinated seafood on the BBQ & children running about gone 10pm because its too humid to sleep long relaxed evenings in the garden drinking wine watching the sunset.
Ah yes, i do love Summer.

saunton sands, Devon

The thing is though, here in old Blighty we don't actually ever get 2 months of un-interrupted sun & warmth. It's rare to have more than a couple of days at a time with the sun beating down on everyone giving us all a healthy glow & much needed Vit-D boost. So, when the sun does come out you have to get at it & be quick sharp about it too. So that's exactly what we did for the day on Wednesday - we packed enough food to feed an army, buckets, spades, hats & our sunnies & we drove down to Studland on the Dorset coast, and headed straight for Knowle Beach.

The kids LOVED it. I was amazed by how confident Dexter & Florence were in the sea considering neither of them can swim properly yet & also that Flo had an icy 'falling into the sea fully clothed' experience in Polzeath back a couple of Novembers ago!! It looked as if Dexter was making his way to the Isle of Wight at one point he was that comfortable, and Flo managed to play a game of sea golf (i don't know either).

It was one of the best days we've had so far as a family of five this summer and we're thinking of heading back there in a couple of days for more. Bliss.

RABBIT!

source

WOW! I have not been this excited about an album since I was about 13 or 14 and discovered 'Come on feel the Lemonheads' but I just had to shout out to whoever would listen the whole world about my new found love for this group & this album. Rabbit! and their album 'Connect the Dots' is exactly what the world and his wife have been waiting for. It's music that cheers you up, lyrics that make you giggle & blush, melodies that make you dance around your kitchen smiling - tunes that get stuck in your head which you actually don't mind LOVE being there. This album is so happy & i don't know if that's because where I am right now, or whether it's the perfect soundtrack to my summer, but whatever - it works & you have to listen to them and then you need to march your little dancing fingers straight into itunes & download the album because, honestly you'd be daft if you didn't!

source

I first stumbled across them when I was reading the blog Pacing the Panic Room where they provided the soundtrack to an amazingly cute maternity video can watch here (i think i have already gushed about this on twitter!)..... aaaanyway, i'm blabbing on but i totally fell in love with the song Magic, so had to get it for myself. Well, it was obviously my birthday or something as there was a whole album waiting for me on itunes, which within minutes was blasting through the speakers in my kitchen.

Everyone loves it here - India falls asleep to Ladybug, Dexy & Flo go mad for Magic (over & over!) and I can't get enough of Pea - the lyrics are as sweet as pie & make you giggle. Maybe I love this album because I can hear lots of little snippets of some of my favourite bands & songs in there. I swear can hear the harmonies The Beach Boys would be proud of, the cosy love-ness of The Magic Numbers, the clever lyrics of Evan Dando.... i don't know, this album makes me think, which is good, it means it won't get boring. This is one album that will be played in this family for a long long time & will most definitely contribute to the soundtrack of me. Hurrah!

CURRENTLY OBSESSING OVER....KITCHENS

Ahhh, i LOVE it when i'm introduced to something new. Finding a new interiors magazine, shop or design website feels like a treat & i literally obsess over it for ages. Well, you can imagine then my utter joy at discovering Pintrest - literally all my Christmases and birthdays have just arrived, smack bang & on my desktop - happy days!

Pintrest is where i can keep all the links to all the lovely things I see on the web & want to share on here and it's also where i get to swoon over pics of interiors from all over the planet. This week my obsession is kitchens!!
I LOVE a good kitchen, it is totally the heart of any house hold & just like that chappy in the Ikea add, you will always find me in the kitchen at parties. My kitchen is probably my favourite room in my house, and although it's not the largest kitchen in the world it's where i like to spend most of my day (& not only because i'm within close range of food, yadda yadda). In fact, if my kitchen was large enough to fit a sofa in, i probably would never leave. Currently my kitchen is powder pink, with a huge blackboard wall which the kiddos draw me lovely pics on, and I write endless lists. If I could, i would probably have a house full of kitchens..... and these lovely ones would all be in there.

sources:  one two three four

I love them all. Muchly. And I am so going to do that recipe idea at home.

Enjoy x