Tag Archives: family life

‘Tis the Weekend to get Christmassy

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{A white Amaryllis from our local florist, which will hopefully flower in the next week or so}

The Friday night calm has once again descended over our house and the children are watching a DVD before bedtime. We have started to add the first festive touches to our house, keeping it fairly simple so far, but this morning my husband was dispatched to the loft to bring down five huge boxes so by tomorrow there will be no holding back on the Christmas cheer! We’re hopefully buying the tree on Sunday (a little bit late for my liking…) so that too will be ready by the start of next week.

Have you gone all out on the Christmas decs yet or are you still exercising some restraint?

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{I planted some wintery flowers last weekend which take pride of place on our front doorstep along with a small Christmas tree decked out with twinkly fairy lights}

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{White paper advent stars hanging in the windows. They look beautiful lit up at night}

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{The advent candle holder again, with some red Christmas ribbon tied around two of the candles}

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{The children’s wooden advent calendar sits on the mantlepiece in the playroom and each night a drawer is magically filled with three chocolate coins. Apart from this morning when I forgot and had to sneak the chocs in while they were having breakfast}

Getting into the Christmas Spirit

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Poor Clemmie has got tonsillitis so it was a day at home for us today, curled up on the sofa in front of CBeebies while I did my best to boost the country’s economy by pressing the ‘click to buy’ button on my computer more times than I care to remember. We did venture out to pick up some antibiotics from the chemist and I couldn’t resist snapping some pictures of the lovely Christmas displays in the shop windows. Our village is pretty all year round but it really comes into its own at Christmas time.

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This Week’s Favourites

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Finally December is here and the countdown to Christmas has begun in earnest. I have vowed that this is the year I am going to be organised and on top of things – no more frantically running around crowded shops the day before school breaks up or sitting up until 2am wrapping Christmas presents on the 24th. I have one friend who had already finished her shopping (including all the stocking fillers) and wrapped it all by mid November! Well, that is never going to be me and in some ways I think it would take the fun out of the run-up to Christmas to be finished so early on (or maybe I’m just jealous that I will never attain that level of organisation) BUT I am working my way through the mammoth list of presents (every year we say we’re going to cut down on the number of gifts and then still end up thinking ‘oh well, just one more won’t hurt..’) and even plan to do some wrapping this week which is a definite first for me.

Here are some pictures and a brief round-up of the last week of November:

1. The boys are on their best behaviour at the moment, knowing that Santa is watching every move. Cameron was being extra helpful this week and even helped to brush his little sister’s teeth.

2. He also read a bedtime story to both his siblings. Believe me, bedtime is not usually this calm in our household!

3. On Tuesday I went to the Swedish shop in south west London with my mum and Clemmie to stock up on Christmas essentials like saffron, gingerbread dough (so much easier than making your own) and glogg.

4. Just like the September issues of the fashion glossies are a must-buy, I think interior magazines really come into their own in December with each sumptuous cover outdoing the next in terms of Christmas decadence. Living Etc is hands down my favourite any time of year.

5. With two older brothers, I thought Clemmie would turn into a little Tomboy but at the moment it is all about dolls, princesses and pink everything.

6. We had some friends over for dinner last night and couldn’t resist cracking open the champagne while we were waiting for them to arrive.

7. Their daughter is Clemmie’s best friend so she had been asking all day when they coming. I bought this dress for her this week from Zara – so cute, I wish it came in an adult version!

8. The first of December and the first of Advent today so we lit a candle in the Iittala candle holder. Let the Christmas countdown begin!

Have a wonderful evening. X

This Week’s Favourites

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This Week's Favourites 24:11

Happy Sunday everyone!

We’ve had a lovely day with a trip into town to buy a new coat for Daddy and shoes for Cameron followed by a visit to the school Christmas fair, where the children managed to spend their allocated £4 in about 10 minutes flat. Once we were back home I cooked a big cottage pie (comfort food at its best!) which we ate after the boys had finished their homework, with a large glass of red wine for the grown ups. We’re just about to round off the evening with a game of Cluedo before bedtime but I thought I’d get a quick blog post in while the boys are setting it all up. It’s been a quiet week so not too many pictures this time…

1. Clemmie enjoying a cake pop at the cafe while we’re waiting for Casper to finish his piano lesson.

2. A leisurely breakfast after the kids went off to school and preschool. I love my grey and pale pink Mateus china (hope to get some more from Father Christmas..)

3. I FINALLY ordered the pictures for my picture wall which has now turned into four photos propped up on a picture shelf from Ikea (but hey it’s better than nothing and easier than trying to line up all the frames evenly on the wall)

4. The children were all playing quietly while I was cleaning the house. I went upstairs to find Clemmie sitting in Casper’s toy box reading a book. She looks very pleased with herself!

5. I can’t even begin to tell you how long my list of things to do before Christmas is, especially now that all three of them have their own Christmas plays/concerts. Much of this week was spent preparing for Cameron’s school Christmas fair – all the parents are asked to donate tombola and lucky dip prizes, buy raffle tickets, bake cakes and then help out on the day.

6. If we didn’t know already that Christmas was just around the corner Clemmie was happy to remind us, dancing around the kitchen this morning in her little Santa outfit. The cutest elf in the house!

Right, they’re calling me now so I’d better go downstairs. Have a good night everyone! x

The Great Outdoors

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One of my best purchases over the last year was not a new bag or a pair of shoes, but a family membership to the National Trust. So far we have enjoyed a Boxing Day walk at nearby Claremont Landscape Gardens and an Easter egg hunt at Ham House as well as trips to Petworth House and Uppark, both in Sussex.

The staff are great at engaging the children with stories of what life was like in ‘the olden days’ and there are usually little activity stations and play areas dotted around the houses. What my three enjoy most, however, is exploring the often vast grounds and gardens – climbing trees and rolling down hills, things they don’t really get to do on a day to day basis. And best of all, once you’ve paid for your membership, if you bring a picnic it’s virtually a free day out and all that fresh air is sure to guarantee sleepy children by bedtime.

Yesterday we spent the morning at Bodiam Castle in Kent, about an hour away by car from where we live. We had promised Casper that we would go there before Christmas as he missed a school trip to the medieval castle when he had his operation a couple of months ago. It was a grey and drizzly morning but we had lots of fun exploring the castle which was built in 1385 by Sir Edward Dallingridge, a rich soldier. As it wasn’t quite picnic weather, we warmed up afterwards in the National Trust cafe with home baked scones slathered in butter and jam and cups of tea and hot chocolate.

A lovely day out.

{Bodiam Castle viewed from the courtyard}

{Bodiam Castle viewed from the courtyard}

The children contemplating whether or not to roll down the muddy hill outside the castle. Luckily they decided not to!

{The children contemplating whether or not to roll down the muddy hill outside the castle. Luckily they decided not to!}

Listening to a talk about the history of the castle

{Listening to a talk about the history of the castle}

There were lots of nooks and crannies to explore

{There were lots of nooks and crannies to explore}

Cameron looks rather pleased to see his brother in the stocks!

{Cameron looks rather pleased to see his brother in the stocks!}

This Week’s Favourites

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This weeks faves 17:11:13

Sunday night again. The kids are in bed and I’m waiting for Homeland to start but first a quick update on another week that flew by.

1. I took all the children to have their hair cut at the start of the week – the boys’ fringes were getting so long they could hardly see! Clemmie and Casper were happy to just let the hairdresser get on with it but Cameron had very specific ideas about what he wanted – short back and sides (using the clippers) and longer at the front. He spent most of the journey home admiring his own reflection in the car windows!

2. Thursday morning saw the much-anticipated launch of the H&M collaboration with French designer Isabel Marant. As sod’s law would have it, the online shop opened at 9am which is the same time that Clemmie’s preschool opens. As my husband refused to take the kids to school and be late for work so that I could get first dibs on the highly coveted collection (men, eh?) , I had to race home after dropping them off only to be greeted by this message on my computer screen…

3. Until finally, after pressing the ‘Try Again’ button a million times (it seemed like it at least), I was in! Sadly, most of the items on my wish list had already gone but I managed to get my hands on these stunning shoes and also a grey jumper (rather nondescript in the picture but, hey, it’s Isabel Marant at less than £40!).  I have since read that it was one of the fastest selling collaborations of all-times – not surprising I guess, given all the hype surrounding it – so I think I was very lucky to get anything at all.

4. To raise money for Children in Need, Cameron’s school invited all pupils to dress in their pyjamas on Friday while Casper’s school asked them to wear polka dots. The first one was easy enough but as Casper was not keen to wear his sister’s spotty pyjamas (I can’t imagine why!) we ended up cutting out sticky-back felt circles and putting them onto an old plain T-shirt.

5. Finally Friday and candles lit for a cosy night in..

6. ..and a glass (or two) of bubbly to celebrate the end of the week.

7. A very dear friend gave me these four Mateus cups as a belated birthday present. Definitely worth waiting for!

8. Despite the grey, drizzly weather, we went on an outing to Bodiam Castle in Kent this morning. It took just over an hour to get there but it was well worth it.

9. We wrapped up the weekend by having dinner at Pizza Express with the grandparents.

And that’s it. Another week done and dusted! Have a great Sunday night. X

 

Embrace the Chaos

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{My Crazy Gang: They don’t half drive me mad sometimes but I love them to the moon and back}

This has been one of those weeks when we’ve been rushing around, late for everything, with tempers fraying left, right and centre. I love my three children more than anything in the world but sometimes the mixture of toddler tantrums, pre-teen hormones, sibling fighting and refusal to listen can drive me up the wall (especially when they’re all going on at the same time!)  Both boys left their scooters behind at school on the same day this week (I don’t know how they managed that – obviously forgetfulness runs in the family!) which meant that trying to get out of the house on Wednesday morning was even more fraught than usual. I had to take deep breaths and count to ten many a time this week, but I’m sure that one day when they’re all grown up I will look back and miss all the noise and mess!

But for now I’m just enjoying the peace and quiet that has descended over the house this evening as we all relax after our busy week. My father-in-law and his wife are visiting us from France this weekend so I’m going to dim the lights to hide all the dust, light some candles and put a bottle of bubbly in the fridge.

Happy Friday to you all! X

This (or rather last..) Week’s Favourites

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This week's faves 11:11:13

I just got back from my little jaunt to the spa hotel this afternoon and have been trying to hold onto that relaxed, pampered feeling while supervising homework, negotiating sibling arguments and cooking tea. Not that easy at times but I did feel more chilled than usual and even managed to keep my serene demeanor when I caught my eldest trying to find out how many ‘bad words’ his seven-year-old brother knows (and eagerly offering to teach him any that he’s not yet familiar with..)

So my weekly favourites post is once again later than usual but at least I have a very good excuse – and even if I had wanted to, I couldn’t have posted it yesterday as we could not get any Wi-fi connection at the hotel.

1. It seems a long time ago now, but for Cameron’s birthday last Monday we went for brunch at a local restaurant at his request: Full English breakfast, Eggs Benedict and French toast – a great way to start the day!

2.The weather turned colder this week and no one could have been more pleased than Clemmie who finally got to wear her leopard print hat (or ‘tiger hat’ as she calls it)

3. You know that Christmas is getting closer when the Gingerbread lattes arrive at Starbucks! As much as I love the Pumpkin Spice one, this is my hands down favourite and I shall be having at least one a week between now and Christmas Day.

4. Casper’s Beaver Scout group had a visit from a blind man and his guide dog last week and all the boys were tasked with making a tactile picture of the dog. Here is Casper’s contribution, made with some sticky-back felt I found in the crafts box.

5. Reading material for my night away: Jimmy Choo founder Tamara Mellon’s memoir In My Shoes and the latest issue of British Vogue.

6. We arrived at the hotel mid-morning and had a cappuccino in the restaurant while we were waiting for the room to be ready.

7. They say a change is as good as a rest and swapping the congested roads in our pretty but densely populated village for rolling hills and fresh air certainly did wonders for the mind and soul.

8. Yesterday we stopped for lunch at The Mulberry pub (which incidentally is owned by radio and TV celeb Chris Evans) down the road from the hotel.

9. A facial and a manicure were among the treatments I indulged in. I love this OPI nail polish but unfortunately I forgot to ask what the colour is called.

Thank you so much for stopping by my blog. Due to the lack of Wi-fi, I am a bit behind with replying to comments and reading your blogs but I’m sure I’ll catch up in the next couple of days. Hope you’ve had a great start to the week. X

Listen up People – It’s Friday!!

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{I love being a mum but sometimes we all deserve a bit of time off}

We have had a lovely afternoon with my sister and her kids who are visiting from Sweden. When the boys came home from school it turned into a bit of a mad house with five children aged from 2 to 10 running around, but it was great for all the cousins to get together as they hadn’t seen each other since August.

Now it’s winding down time, the children have just got out of the bath and are deciding which movie to watch for their Friday night treat. The rain is pouring down outside but it’s lovely and cosy inside. I’m going to light some candles, have a glass of wine and enjoy the peace and quiet before I cook dinner.

A great weekend (I hope!) lies ahead:  tomorrow night I am going out for dinner with my sister – a rare occurrence as we live in different countries. Then on Sunday I am going an even rarer trip to a spa with a friend. We are only going for one night but we have lots of nice treatments booked and I hope it will be a chance to recharge the batteries before the run-up to Christmas.

Hope you all have a fabulous weekend! X

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This Week’s Favourites

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This week's faves 03:10

Hello again! Just a quick one tonight as I’m totally exhausted after Cameron’s 10th birthday party this afternoon for 17 of his friends at a mini golf course near our house. His actual birthday is tomorrow and I’ve just finished making a cake and wrapping the presents (his main present is a bicycle but he’ll get to choose it himself so we’ve just printed out a picture of a cool bike and stuck it in a birthday card).

As I’m typing this with only one eye open, here is a quick round-up of our week:

1. Apart from today’s party, Halloween was without a doubt the highlight of our week. When we went to our local farm shop we ran into this Pumpkin Princess who kindly agreed to have her picture taken with the kids.

2. The Halloween decorations were brought down from the loft and the children immediately tried on the bat hairbands. Clemmie kept hers on for two days and even took it into bed at night.

3. On Wednesday the sun graced us with its presence and we took advantage of the crisp autumn weather with a trip to a nearby adventure park and farm.

4. It has been lovely spending every day with my boys this half term. They have tomorrow off as well but on Tuesday it’s back to school.

5. The pumpkins took pride of place on our doorstep on Thursday as we hosted a small tea party for friends before trick or treating around the neighbourhood.

6. The kids all dressed up in their scary finery.

7. Cameron’s golf themed birthday cake (no I didn’t make it, cake decorating is not a strength of mine..) went down a treat at the party today.

8. My football crazy son holding one of his favourite birthday presents.

9. It’s bonfire weekend so after the party we went to see an amazing fireworks display.

It’s now almost 11pm and high time I went to bed, I suspect the birthday boy will not let us have a lie-in tomorrow morning. Good night to you all. X