Tag Archives: family life

Happy Halloween!

Posted in Family Life by

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From all of us to all of you: A Very Happy Halloween!

So Halloween has finally arrived and the excitement is running high in our household. The pumpkins have been carved and we have finished putting up the decorations in preparation for a little tea party for six of the children’s friends which will be followed by trick-or-treating around the neighborhood.

The boys have then requested a ‘scary movie’ so I think we will watch ParaNorman or Aliens in the Attic while they eat some of their sweets. If past years are anything to go by, they’ll each end up with a whole bucket full of candy so I will stash most of it away in the top cupboard to avoid complete sugar overload.

Here are some pictures of our Halloween decorations:

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This Week’s Favourites

Posted in Family Life by

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Wow, two parties in one day! First the Maison Bentley Style Blog Party hosted by the fabulous Kate – such a great idea and I met some lovely bloggers. Thank you so much to everyone who stopped by A Spoonful of Style – I really enjoyed spending time with you all and look forward to following your blogs.

Then, it was time for Casper’s seventh birthday bash, a swimming party for 12 of his friends at our local gym. All the kids were exhausted and high on sugar (should be an impossible combination but believe me it is not!) by the end of it so I think we can safely say it was a huge success.

I’m pretty tired now myself but feeling cosy wrapped up in a blanket on the sofa with candles lit on the mantlepiece as a big storm brews outside. So here’s just a quick recap of the week that once again went by in a flash:

1. On Tuesdays and Fridays when Clemmie doesn’t go to preschool my husband takes the boys to school so we can just chill out at home.

2. I am quickly becoming addicted to the Pumpkin Spice Lattes at Starbucks and looking forward to the Gingerbread Lattes appearing on the menu in the run-up to Christmas.

3. We went shopping for Halloween costumes and Clemmie decided she would rather be a princess than a witch. Fine by me, the only problem is that the costume sheds glitter EVERYWHERE – the floor, the sofa and my clothes are covered in it.

4. This scary zombie (also known as Cameron) had a great time at his school Halloween disco.

5. A birthday party means lots more presents and an insane amount of Lego sets to build. It will keep Casper busy over half term!

6. Halloween is fast approaching and this morning we went to a nearby farm shop to get our pumpkins. We will be hosting a Halloween party for a few friends on Thursday before we go trick or treating around the neighbourhood.

Next week is half term so all the children will be at home but hopefully I should be able to find some time for blogging as well.

Have a great Sunday night. X

Weekend Photo Challenge: OOTD and Posing :)

Posted in Family Life by

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{OOTD: I’m wearing my new (ish) Odd Molly dress and keeping my Autumn resolution of not just reaching for my jeans every day.}

For once I’m actually early (OK then, on time at least) with my Weekend Photo Challenge post. We have had a quiet weekend so far (for a change) and this afternoon my husband has taken the boys off to the golf course, leaving Clemmie and I to relax at home. I have to prepare dinner in a little while but I’ve got time for a quick post. This evening I’m going to the movies with a friend to see the new Woody Allen film, Blue Jasmine. I’m not a huge fan of his but it has got good reviews so fingers crossed it will be a good film. Have any of you seen it?

The second part of this weekend’s challenge was a picture of your child posing. Well, that was easy! When it comes to our family there is no contest: my eldest son has got the posing down to a fine art:

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This Week’s Favourites

Posted in Family Life by

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{The walk to school takes twice as long when it’s been raining and there are puddles to jump in}

‘Swoosh’ it said and yet another week went by! Seriously, I’m beginning to think that time really does speed up when your kids start school. The seven weeks between the start of this school year and half term (which is this Friday) have gone by so much quicker than the summer holidays did. It has been a quiet week, mainly spent catching up on things that were were put on hold while preparing for last weekend’s party, like completing my tax return and buying the last of the boys’ birthday presents.

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{Clemmie chose her winter hat when we went into Gap during a shopping trip earlier this week. Leopard print is a firm fave of mine as well – like mother like daughter!}

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{I am one step closer to creating my dream home office after buying this print}

The highlight of the week was undoubtely Casper’s seventh birthday today. My youngest son is very much an old soul – wise, thoughtful and kind but, boy, can he throw a tantrum when that way inclined. Today, however, he was all smiles when we woke him up at 7.30 with presents and cake. As both he and his sister had birthday parties to go to today we’ve delayed his party until next weekend. Then the following weekend is my eldest son’s birthday – a busy month but that’s the way I like it!

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{Big brother helps out with the present opening.}

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{A very happy boy. Judging by the smile, I think we got the present right!}

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{It was a bit of a squeeze to fit seven candles onto a very small cake. There will be a bigger one at the party next weekend.}

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{Someone is enjoying having cake for breakfast}

T.G.I.F

Posted in Family Life by

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Friday again – my favourite day of the week and the start of the weekend. If I’m completely honest, with three children of varying ages I sometimes find weekends exhausting as we’re constantly ferrying them around to various activities and parties. This weekend there are no less than three parties plus Casper’s birthday on Sunday – his party is not until next weekend, thankfully.

By contrast, Friday afternoons are normally a quiet affair. There’s no homework or after school activities, I usually make something nice for dinner and we all just potter around doing our own thing. Sometimes the boys have play dates but today the whole gang is home – the boys are upstairs listening to music and building Lego, Clemmie is playing with the train set and I’m catching up on emails and writing my blog. I have so many blog posts in my head and written out in the note section of my phone, but I just haven’t had the time this week to actually put them together, find pictures and edit them etc. Oh well, there’s always next week…

Friday night is movie night in our house so after dinner there will be popcorn and sweets in front of a film. The boys have a strict system (that they’ve come up with themselves) in place for choosing the film – one of them will pick their top five movies and then the other one will choose which one to watch that night. Then, once they’re in bed, unless we’re going out my husband and I will also watch a movie although tonight I think we will probably plough through another two or three episodes of House of Cards which we’ve just discovered.

Which is your favourite day of the week?

XXX

This Week’s Favourites

Posted in Family Life by

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I suppose the title of this post should really be ‘last week’s favourites’…I’m a day late but with all the party preparations last week and then the clearing up yesterday I have a feeling I’ll be playing catch-up all week. Anyway here’s a quick round-up of the last seven days:

1. My thermos mug from Ikea comes in handy on busy mornings when I end up having breakfast on the run.

2. I made another batch of low carb muesli this week (find the recipe here) – my favourite breakfast.

3. Banana bread is great to put in the children’s lunch boxes and as an afternoon treat with a cup of tea. (Recipe here)

4. The week started off very warm and we made the most of the sunny weather with a trip to the playground after preschool. As the week went on it got progressively colder and I think it’s definitely time to dig out the hats and gloves (although I think the chances of finding a matching pair are very slim, given how many gloves were lost at school last winter).

5. Beautiful autumn colours on a crisp, sunny morning.

6. I had been looking for a new ‘smart’ winter coat for a while but not found anything that was quite right. I have a padded coat from Zara which is great when it gets really cold but I wanted a slightly dressier one to wear for nights out. Usually buying coats is a nightmare as I’m small and unless I find one in a petite fit (which means much less choice), the sleeves are too long and it swamps me. But I went into town mid-week to take a few things back and there it was – the perfect coat. As luck would have it there was one left in my size and, being H&M, it was a total bargain at only £39.99! I tried to find it online to link back to for a better picture but for some reason it’s not up on the H&M website, so you’ll have to make do with the picture I snapped in the changing room. The main body of the coat is a black and white tweed type of pattern, with black sleeves and a detachable fur collar which you can of course wear with other coats and jackets as well.

7. It was only a quick trip into town but I did manage to have a wander through our local department store where they were setting up the Christmas display. I know a lot of people complain that the stores bring out the Christmas decorations too early but I kind of like it. The boys’ birthdays are at the end of October and beginning of November but after that I like to start planning for the festive season – I can’t stand stressing about it in mid December when the shops are full of people and things are starting to run out, or worrying about Internet deliveries arriving in time. Only ten weeks to go until Christmas Day folks!

8. Every Friday Clemmie and I go to Gym Tots with my friend and her daughter. The girls love running around, climbing on all the gym equipment and bouncing on the trampolines.

9. As you probably know by now the week culminated with a birthday party for my husband which went on into the early hours of Sunday morning. We all had a great time and he got some fantastic presents – almost all of them golf related!

Hope you’ve all had a fantastic start to the week! X

Weekend Photo Challenge (even later than usual!)- OOTD and ‘sleeping’ children

Posted in Family Life by

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{My lovely children having a cuddle in our bed. Not sleeping strictly speaking but close enough I think!}

I haven’t had a chance to sit down at the computer all day, but better late than never! We didn’t get to bed until 3.30 this morning (I can’t even remembered the last time that happened!) so I’ve not exactly been full of energy…

It’s my husband’s actual birthday today so we had a lovely lunch at the in-laws when we collected the children (sooo nice not to have to cook – dinner will be takeaway pizza). Apart from that, the day has been spent clearing up the house after last night’s festivities, opening presents and all the usual things like overseeing homework and music practice. There is still some cleaning to be done but, you know what, I’m going to leave it until tomorrow and curl up on the sofa with my husband, eat my pizza and watch Homeland.

Have a great evening. X

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{Me, in last night’s outfit, a black dress bought from Asos last year and jewellery from a local boutique}

This Week’s Favourites

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Where has the time gone? It seems like it was only yesterday that I wrote my last ‘Favourites’ post and now it’s Sunday again. Looking back at the photos I can see that even though the week flew by, as usual we managed to squeeze quite a lot in.

1. Because of the building work going on at home, the house was covered in dust at the start of the week so Clemmie and I escaped to a nearby village for brunch. I had Eggs Benedict, one of my all-time favourites.

2. We have finally chosen the tiles to go around the sink in the new downstairs cloakroom. Fingers crossed, it should all be finished by the end of this week in time for my husband’s birthday party on Saturday. I will of course share pictures when it’s all done.

3. I also managed to plant some herbs in two of the pots I bought in Sweden this summer. They were a bargain at less than £10 for three and I love the chalkboard labels on them.

4. I went to two exercise classes this week and decided to reward myself (and my aching muscles) with some new workout clothes from Sweaty Betty.

5. I also bought an early birthday present for myself from Space NK – I just can’t go into that store without buying something!

6. The highlight of the week was without a doubt my birthday on Wednesday and a meal out at Jamie’s Italian to celebrate with my husband and kids.

7. Like mother like daughter. Clemmie seems to have inherited my love of magazines and pesters me to buy one every time we go shopping. This one certainly lives up to is name: I think it has got every shade of pink imaginable on the cover.

8. I made a very exciting discovery this week: they sell Pumpkin Spice Lattes at Starbucks in the UK! I don’t know how I could have missed it although in my defence the barista did say they’re new for this autumn. So yummy, especially with whipped cream on top!

9. My husband went away for a golf weekend on Friday so I’ve been on my own with the kids all weekend. I really take my hat off to all the single mums out there, it is bloody hard work! Saturday was spent ferrying them around to various activities (football, swimming, tutor) and then a friend whose husband was also away came over with her kids in the evening. The children had pizza and shared some of my birthday chocolates while watching a movie (although I think Clemmie managed to get more chocolate on her than in her!) and we had Thai takeaway and a glass of wine or two.

Now I’m just waiting for my other half to walk through the front door so I can take a hot bath and then curl up in front of the TV to watch the third series of Homeland. Unfortunately the week has not ended on a good note as someone close to me was admitted to hospital today. Hopefully, it won’t be for long and we’re all doing our best to stay positive.

Hope you’ve all had a great weekend. X

Happy Birthday to Me!

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{In our house birthdays mean breakfast in bed, even for mummy!}

It’s my birthday today (yay! happy birthday to me!). I still get ridiculously excited about birthdays and even if I don’t exactly whoop with joy at the thought of new wrinkles appearing, I don’t actually mind getting older (hey, it beats the alternative, right?) and hopefully wiser. My friend Angela over at Read,Sugar wrote a great post on why we should all embrace our birthdays, no matter what age we are (read it here).

These days, birthdays are less about the presents (although there were plenty of those as well, including a new lens for my Nikon camera, this perfume, some more Mateus china for my collection and new yoga clothes) and more about the children piling into bed singing happy birthday and covering me with kisses. (Before devouring my cupcakes and getting crumbs all over the bed, but I can overlook small stuff like that on my birthday 🙂 )

It’s been a busy day so far, starting with a gym class followed by coffee with friends and then a quick trip to the tile shop as the building work to repair the damage caused by a leaking pipe is finally underway. This evening we’re going out for dinner as a family to celebrate a little bit more. Now the sun’s out and it’s shaping up to be a beautiful Autumn day and a great birthday! X

My Latest TV Addiction

Posted in Family Life, Food & Recipes by

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My husband and I often have wildly different tastes in TV programmes. I like glamour and drama, with a healthy bit of cheese thrown in (think Revenge, Gossip Girl – RIP, I still miss Chuck & Blair – and Made in Chelsea) while he prefers sport, Top Gear or worthy documentaries, which I think I should watch to boost my intellect but just find sooo boring. But now and again our tastes do overlap – we were both avid followers of Homeland (starts again on Sunday, yay!) The Bridge, Borgen and The Americans, to name but a few.

Most recently, it’s TV chef extraordinaire Jamie Oliver’s (is he ever off the telly?) latest series Save with Jamie that has caught our attention. Neither of us is usually that enamored with cookery shows but we both like the idea of roasting a big joint of meat or grilling a side of salmon for a family Sunday lunch and then eeking it out to make another two or three meals during the week. Last Sunday we had roast chicken with all the trimmings and then boiled the carcass to make chicken stock which, together with the leftover meat, was turned into a stew that lasted us two days.

Of course I realise that there is certain irony in a multi-millionaire chef showing us mere mortals how to cut down on our food spend, but if it saves us money and makes meal planning that bit easier then I’m all for it. And say what you will about the ‘Naked Chef’, he is a national institution and you do get the feeling that he does really care about the eating habits of the nation, even if he is laughing all the way to the bank.

Find the chicken stew recipe here