Santa Came To Our House!

Every December in the weeks leading up to Christmas day Worthing Lions charity do a street collection. It's basically a transit van covered in lights with a huge tree on the back and Santa comes to the houses, collects money  and hands out sweets, the kids love it!

I took a few videos:

Eddie was very excited!

                                     

I always manage to just about get them in and out the bath before they come down our road!

Does anyone else have a local tradition like this? I think it's so lovely and saves us a trip to see santa ;)

Application for Infant school

This week I finally did it....I applied for Eddie's place at infant school. The registrations opened in October and I kept putting it off- I knew I had to do it by mid January but he's still my baby, the youngest child and I'm not ready to lose him to school yet. Luckily I have 9 months until that day comes, so lots of snuggles and fun times to fit in!  Here is is looking super grown up, coincidentally at the school he will be going to!

And here's one post barber trip. He's very much into styling his hair at the moment- he even told the barber how he wanted it cut and how much gel to put in!

Anyone else have their little one starting school next September? 

Poppy's Top 5 Christmas Wishlist

With Christmas fast approaching I thought I would go through Poppy's wish list and pick out the top 5. I think many other 5/6 year olds will have these on theirs too.

1. Sylvanian Families- After talking to some mums at school apparently these are on a lot of christmas lists this year. I remember loving mine when i was a child. This starter set is great value at around £20.

2. Playmobil- Both Poppy and Eddie are VERY into Playmobil at the moment. They have started watching the Super 4 series on Netflix and have asked for the playsets. We actually recently managed to pick this one up from amazon for £19.99 which is half RRP.

3. Playdoh- I don't think kids ever get bored or grow out of Play Doh....do they? you'd definately catch me still playing with it anyway! When you mix it with My Little Pony you can't go wrong really!

4. Girls World/ Styling Head- After years of battles to brush and style Poppy's hair in the morning she is finally showing an interest, so i think this will be perfect. I may have done a little jump for joy when she asked for it!

5. Lego- Again another toy that never really gets old or grown out of! Poppy loves the Lego Friends sets. We managed to get this half price earlier in the year and have it put by for her birthday.

What are your little girls asking for this christmas?

Look out for Eddie's coming soon!

Reclaiming My Identity

When I first started this blog over a year ago, It was a place for me to get my feelings out, talk about my day, do something for me and I guess to get my creative juices flowing again. At school I so desperately wanted to work for a magazine. I even went onto higher education to study media- focusing on digital imaging and writing,  I made a website for a small pop group and designed flyers for club nights when I lived in London. It actually feels crazy to read that as I feel like i've completely lost my identity since having children.

After reading an Instagram post about having an identity out of being mum from the lovely Natalie (who is hugely inspiring by the way!) so many other mums replied with exactly what I was thinking myself. I know when you have children things change, thats natural but when your identity completely changes and theres nothing you can think of in the present that resembles how you were pre kids it's not good. I gave up thinking i could wear what i wanted just because I couldn't lose that last stone of baby weight, I was too old, the other mums I now spent time with didn't dress the same etc. I'm hardly the best role model for my children when I don't feel confident as the person who brought them into the world.

So off i went to my wardrobe to realise that i'd sold most of my old dresses. "It's Okay" I thought, tights, denim shorts and a t shirt- apparently in the 4 years i've not worn tights my legs have either elongated (or widened ;) ) or the tights have shrunk-Yeah right!!! Time to do some selling and cheer my wardrobe up a bit. I'm looking forward to charity shop trips, customising and acessorising and building back up that confidence I once had. As for going back to my creative roots, I have made a start on getting super organised. I now schedule at least 2 hours when the children are at school to have a coffee and blog, write down ideas, play around editing photos and get that "me" time. I definitely think that having a little designated desk area helps but more on that in a future post.

What Poppy Wore

Poppy had an inset day this week, so we headed out to town whilst Eddie was at Pre-School.

First she went to get her hair cut. She's wanted a bob for a while now and she's so happy with it :)

Then we looked around the shops and popped to the beach.

Top and trousers both from H&M

Boots from Shoe Zone

Halloween 2015

I have been quite poorly over the last 3-4 weeks, which will explain the lack of posts!

After being stuck indoors all half term and going pretty crazy, I was better for Halloween!

Poppy had a party at her friends in the afternoon so she got dressed up and we played around with hair chalks and make up. Her Hat and tights were both from Poundland.

The smell of mulled cider greeted us at the door, it smelt amazing and tasted even better (I may have had a few!)

After some fun and games, we headed back towards home to meet Eddie and Greg for some family trick or treating. We had so much fun, we are lucky that our neighbourhood go all out and embrace halloween. The kids got an impressive bucket full each!

I hope you all had a fun Halloween :)

What Eddie Wore!: Halloween Nutmeg

A few days late, but I've been really poorly.

Thursday was a Pre-School day for Eddie but he miraculously managed to come home clean and was willing to pose for some photos.

Halloween top: Nutmeg at Morrisons - £2.50 (current stock)

Green skinny jeans: Next (old stock)

Nutmeg at Morrisons currently have some lovely tops starting at £2 and I couldn't resist this Halloween one! I find they wash and dry really well and seem to keep their shape well-great value!

Girls Clothing Age Range Rant!

With the new season clothing ranges hitting the shops and Poppy needing a few Autumn/Winter bits, i have been looking for inspiration on my favourite blogs and Instagram accounts.

There are so many bits i love but as Poppy is now in 6-7 years clothing, everything I'm seeing is too young for her. She's in the 'Older Girls' section in most shops now which is so frustrating as the clothes look too grown up for her, not to mention the extra £5+ slapped onto the price tag.

H&M is the only shop that seem to cover a decent 1.5-10 years age range. I miss being able to shop in Next and Boots for cute outfits.

Does anyone else have the same problem?

Cloudy Cow Stationary

This is quite an overdue post but in August i was lucky enough to win an awesome competition run by Cloudy Cow on Instagram.

Cloudy Cow are an online shop stocking stationary and journal accessories.  You'll find all sorts from washi tape to stickers and post-it notes and i'll be surprised if you didn't find something you loved.

Everything is so cute and colourful and perfect for jazzing up your snail mail (yes some of us still write letters by hand!)

Poppy and I have been enjoying decorating letters and cards and i'm going to work on my organiser next.

You can find The Cloudy Cow's website here as well as on Facebook and Instagram

Christmas 2015 Gift Ideas- Framed photographs

It's that time of year again where we are all starting to think about Christmas presents-unless you are like me and start in May! 

One gift that family love to receive is a framed photo of the kids. I will always remember the huge collection of photos on the walls at my Gran and Gramps house of all their grandchildren.

We were recently lucky enough to win a competition prize of a mini photo shoot with VP Photography in Worthing. We had never had photographs taken as a family before so were a little nervous and didn't quite know what to expect. We really didn't need to be though as Vix's lovely little home studio was so cosy and welcoming, the kids instantly felt relaxed and comfortable - ready to strike their pose. 

I dressed Poppy and Eddie in some nice autumn/winter clothes but took along a Christmas jumper for each of them with Christmas cards and gifts in mind. There was also a dressing up box with outfits, accessories and props which was lots of fun.

It was so nice to be able to have a peek at the unedited images during the shoot and i was blown away at how good the photos were. If your kids are anything like mine they will either move , blink or pull an awkward "mummy stop taking photos of me" face, which makes getting a successful photo almost impossible.

We ended up paying for an upgrade to get extra digital images as there were so many good ones, including a photo of all of us as a family, something we haven't had up until now. VP Photography's prices are very affordable with mini shoots starting at £35 for 15 digital images, great value for the quality of images produced. 

You can find Vix's Facebook page here for lots of images of past shoots including some fun superhero and Harry Potter themed ones i already want to book.

The Love/Hate Challenge

I was nominated by the lovely Laura over at Mummy Lala to take part in the Love/Hate challenge. Here goes!

10 Things I Love:

1. My husband Greg and two children Poppy and Eddie- they come as a package!

2. Cross stitch- I have just got back into it after a 3 year break.

3. Pretty Little Liars, yes I am completely (quite sadly) obsessed with the US teen drama and since it's been added to netflix I watch it all the time, even if just to have something on in the background.

4. Being a stay at home mum- I'm not going to lie, it's very hard and money is very tight but it's the most rewarding job I think I will ever have.

5. Instagram- I can't get enough of it, i get carried away searching different hashtags and finding awesome new people to follow. At the moment I'm loving it for home decor inspiration.

6. Christmas- Best time of the year without a doubt! I actually prefer the lead up to the actual day! I still get butterflies in my tummy on christmas eve!

7. Living by the sea- I love where we live. We have lived in 6 areas of this town since Greg and I met and this by far the best. The beach and town are a 10 minute walk away.

8. Food- I'm not fussy, i'll eat pretty much anything but I have a HUGE sweet tooth so chocolate and cake are right at the top of my food loves!

9. Puzzles- Along with cross stitch, I find doing puzzles really calming. It really helps with my anxiety.

10. Coffee- I didn't drink it often until i had Poppy....enough said!!!

10 Things I Hate:

1. Anxiety- I have it bad, it sucks. I know it makes me who I am but it still sucks!

2. Wind and Rain- Together....especially on a school run

3. People with no manners- It costs nothing !

4. School run- There's a theme going on here ;)

5. The kids fighting- *pulls hair out*

6. Being on a tight budget- It won't be forever.

7. Being let down-

8. Ebay- I have so much to sell but I'm so put off by past bad experiences.

9. Fennel- i can't even smell the stuff without feeling sick!

10. Sinusitis- I get it every few months and have it right now :(

The second part was quite hard for me, i'm trying not to be so negative so it was heavily edited ;)

I'd like to nominate the following people:

Lauren at Belle Du Brighton

Kerry at Lived With Love!

Sophie at Cider With Sophie

Our Week... (5th-11th October '15)

Hey, so every Sunday evening I'm going to sit down and write about what we've been up to over the past 7 days. This week isn't particularly exciting but here's to the start of something new!

On Monday it absolutely poured down....ALL day! This meant a cancelled play date, coffee and catch up with the lovely Lauren and instead i dried myself off from the wet school run, watched box sets and sorted out my cross stitch threads.

Tuesday i had an epic baking fail...i have no idea what happened but they tasted good anyway! 

On Wednesday Eddie and i went to a lovely playgroup and met with Lauren and her little ones, I think we will try and go back regularly as Eddie loved the climbing frame and crafts on offer . When we got home we mostly played Lego. I also bought some mince pies! yes Christmas has started!!!

Thursday was a housework day. After school Poppy and I had fun playing the Ocarina. They are learning how to play at school, she's really enjoying it and when the chance came to order the instrument and book I couldn't really say no. I may have enjoyed it a bit too much, memories of playing the recorder and flute as child came flooding back.

Friday was quite an anxious day, Poppy had a school trip which i always get myself in a state about but i was kept busy by a course I do in the morning and snuggles with Eddie in the afternoon. Eddie decorated some awesome gingerbread men in Creche, he even asked if he could do one for Poppy which was super cute.

Saturday was a busy one. It started off with Poppy's morning yoga lesson, then in the afternoon she had one of her oldest friends birthday to attend. It was so lovely to see her with some of the children she first met when she was just a few months old at early parenting course. I also started putting some Halloween decorations up. The candle holders were a bargain at £1 each from Poundland and the paper chains were also £1 from Asda.

Sunday i woke feeling awful, this head cold just won't shift.  Greg did some gardening with Poppy whilst I sat with Eddie feeling sorry for myself. We decided to go for a walk before our food shop came. I absolutely love where we live, we are only 5-10 minute walk from the promenade and some lovely quiet parks. We took the scooters and Eddie finally has confidence to scoot for more than 10 seconds !!! Today felt like a proper family Sunday, how I remember Sundays used to be when i was little. We finished it off with a yummy roast dinner .

It wouldn't be a post from me without some food photos. Yummy veggie (and some vegan) food :)

Update...

Wow....well, its been a while.

I don't want this to be a negative post so i'm going to get it all out the way first. Basically the holidays weren't at all what we planned or hoped for. I won't go into detail but we had some personal things going on which made my anxiety creep back and stopped me from doing all the things we had planned. 

The kids are now back at school and pre-school which means ROUTINE! I absolutely need routine to function, the holidays throw me off whack and they are way too long in my opinion. I've done a lot of soul searching over the last month or so and decided its time to put myself first and do things for me for at least an hour a day. I have re-discovered my love for cross stitch and find it so relaxing. The pile of unfinished projects from 3 years ago are finally being finished. 

Amongst the chaos of the holidays we managed to have a family photo shoot with the lovely Vix at VP Photography. Her little cosy home studio  in Worthing was lovely and perfect for photoshoot first timers like us. Her prices are so reasonable for the amazing digital images you receive. We were lucky enough to win the photoshoot in a Facebook competition but upgraded to a larger package as there were so many gorgeous photos to choose from.

We are now into October which means Halloween and Christmas prep! yes i am one of those christmas obsessives. I actually bought my first present back in May and only have a few more left to get or make. This year will be on a budget and i plan to blog some money saving ideas for presents and decorations. 

Hope you've all had a lovely summer :)

6 Week Summer Holidays 2015

So, my original plan was to blog through the summer holidays....I mean that's what i said i "needed" my new laptop for when trying to convince my husband. Well, the first few days we went to soft play, library, museum and out for lunch and i even managed to fit in a hair cut and a night at our local pub with some of the lovely mums from school.....There was karaoke!!!

It was all going well when i was hit by the worst food/alcohol (i don't know what on earth it was) poisoning i have ever had, it took me a week to get better, so i kind of went into hiding. I don't know how we got through that week, especially the kids. We are now coming to the end of week two and I'm not going to lie, i am so glad my husband is off for two weeks. I'm finding these two ages so hard, the kids are going through such huge changes right at the same time, every day is a battle. I keep telling myself "this won't last forever", but i can't help but count down to September 3rd when they both go back to school and pre school. They love it and are so happy there.

Here are some photos from the past few weeks, i will blog about our days or weeks in more detail from now on.

Poppy's first time bowling

Poppy's new HUGE world map. She wants to learn about the world :)

Poppy and Eddie after seeing Inside Out at the cinema (it was awesome by the way)

Lets do this!

Hey everyone!
I have a new laptop, which means more posts...yay.

I have found to so hard using my mobile to do blog posts and have been so excited to sit at a computer to do them.
So, here's my new baby!

I have so much planned for the next couple of months and i hope you will join me.

Thanks for reading,

Emily