Tag Archives: Weekend

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

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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{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.}

Casper present

{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.}

Clemmie cake

{Someone is enjoying having cake for breakfast}

Weekend Photo Challenge: OOTD and Unsuspecting Subject

Posted in Family Life, Fashion by

Tartan skirt

I dug deep into the back of my wardrobe for today’s outfit. Or, to be more specific, my husband was dispatched into the loft to locate a tartan skirt that I bought 17 years ago from a high street chain called Morgan (It was French I think. Does anyone remember it or know what happened to it? I used to buy a lot of things from there in my teens and early 20s). I’m not a big hoarder but there are some things I’ve held on to, including this skirt which I bought when I was doing an internship at a fashion magazine. There are also a handful of pieces which I got rid of that I now regret such as a pair of black knee high lace-up boots that I wore all the time at university. The black top with ruched sleeves is from Zara’s kids section and the necklace was a birthday present from a friend.

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Today’s unsuspecting subject is none other than Casper who turned seven today! Here he is (a few days ago) in his school uniform checking out his new Ben Ten watch. It was an early morning for us today as we got up at 7.15am to sing happy birthday to Casper, eat cake and watch him open his presents which included a new scooter, Lego and a Wii game.

Despite rain being forecast, the sun is shining and it’s shaping up to be a beautiful Autumn day. Happy Sunday to you all! X

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

Let’s Get This Party Started!

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Children dropped off at grandparents √

Disco lights and sound system all set up √

Champagne (OK then, Prosecco) chilling on ice √

Canapes ready to go in the oven √

Hair and make-up done √

New dress and shoes on √

Now just waiting for the guests to arrive…

It’s my husband’s birthday and we’re ready to party the night away!

That Friday Feeling

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Yet another weekend rolls around and this week I’ve had to work harder than normal to stay positive. Sometimes bad things happen that we can’t control or fix, but we do have power over our own minds and I really believe that negative thinking creates a downward spiral which is hard to climb out of.

So I’m trying to concentrate on all the good things I have to look forward to and be grateful for my wonderful family and friends. It’s my husband’s birthday party tomorrow, so tonight we will be preparing food, putting up the disco lights and moving furniture to make room for the dancing. But right now, Clemmie and I are cuddling up on the sofa with a cup of hot chocolate and CBeebies on the TV. A lovely, lazy morning.

Hope you have a fantastic Friday wherever you are, and remember:

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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

Weekend Photo Challenge – OOTD and Eating

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As some of you may remember, I was invited by Ezster (check out her blog Kukolina here) to take part in the Weekend Photo Challenge. This week the challenge was to post a picture of Saturday’s outfit and (if you have kids) a photo of your child eating.

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I’m afraid my outfit today is not vastly different from last Saturday’s – the same boots, Paige Denim jeans in a darker colour and another white H&M tee, paired with an H&M scarf. Same jewellery as well – how unadventurous of me!

Clemmie Eating

This picture of Clemmie eating her dinner was actually taken last weekend at my parents’ house. Sometimes my kids are happy to let me take photos of them and other times they go all camera shy on me. Today was one of those days, hence I had to use an old picture.

Wishing you all a great Saturday! X

Fabulous Friday!

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Fresh flowers + chocolates + bubbly = the perfect Friday.

We’re going out for dinner ‘en famille’ to our friends’ house (as luck would have it they have three kids the same age and gender as ours. No wonder they’re our favourite people!) to celebrate the start of the new school term, the end of yet another week and also I’m celebrating that my last post (the apple cake recipe) was my 100th post on A Spoonful of Style!

Here’s to a fabulous weekend! X