#MeAndMine - A Family Portrait (August 2014)

I don't know where the summer holidays have gone. MC goes back to school on Wednesday and I'll miss her so much.

I'm not saying that every day has been a blissfully perfect day. There have been times when the two children have driven me mad but, on the whole, they have been lovely and seeing their relationship blossom each day is wonderful.

The days have flown and I haven't actually blogged since last months Me and Mine! I have barely had any time at all and have just been enjoying days with the kids and evenings with Matt.

In amongst seeing friends, going for picnics, going on adventures, having lazy days in the park we've also had a fair few weekends of family time as a foursome. It's been lovely.  Matt works so hard to provide financial stability for me and the children so our weekends are very precious.

Before the weather turned in August we spent the day at Gulliver's World in Warrington. We'd never been before and it's only a half hour drive for us. We had a lovely fun-filled day. It's not the greatest of theme parks - it needs a lot of TLC but the kids loved it which was all we needed to see. We enjoyed taking some selfies on rides too.

Then, last week, Matt took the day off work as we had tickets booked to see Peppa Pig Live in Llandudno. It was TC's first trip to the theatre and, considering he's only 2, he coped quite well. He got tired and naggy in the second half so Matt took him to the car for the last 15 minutes but after a short nap and some lucy he was ready to enjoy the rest of the day. We had lunch and went for a stroll along the pier. The kids went on some fairground rides and then had fun with the 2p falls in the amusement arcade.

Again, it's all about the selfies this month. They aren't perfect but then that's just us.

Blogging Confessions And Tiny Ched

My name is Heather and it's been two weeks since I last blogged.

Yes, this feels very much like I need to join some sort of blogging confessions therapy group. I don't know what's wrong with me but I'm not feeling the love right now.

I don't know if it's to do with the summer holidays, the house move, my new life in a new home and neighbourhood, lack of time, lack of motivation or what but I can't seem to get my head into blogging much right now. I've stepped back from Twitter too. That's generally a lovely place to be but, quite frankly, I've heard about some bad stuff on there of late.

I'm also trying to decide where I should go with my blog. I need more time. It is desperately due an overhaul. I haven't got time in the evening as Matt works hard all day so we like to spend time together at night.

Perhaps the blogging mojo will come back after September when Mini Cheddar starts full time school. Who knows?

At the moment we are middle of the school holidays. MC has made lots of little friends in our new neighbourhood and so, when we are at home, she's playing out most of the day. I could be throwing myself into my blog a bit during the day but I'm trying to spend time enjoying my little man (and when he's napping I'm just enjoying time on my own - or cleaning the house!).

Tiny Ched is growing up so fast it's scary. Doesn't seem like a minute since he was born (although it also feels like he's always been here in a strange way) and yet, here he is, almost 17 months old.

TC is my last baby. I said I'd like either 2 or 4 children and, although our new house could more than easily accommodate 2 more, Matt and I feel like we should quit while we are ahead in a way. We have been truly blessed with two very bright, very happy and, thankfully, very healthy children. Plus, I turn 40 next year *screams and runs for the wrinkle cream*

So 2 it is.

2 is more than enough though.

TC is a spirited little man. He's full of smiles and cuddles, has THE cutest waddle and grin but at the same time he is the biggest drama queen when he can't get what he wants. If you tell him no or even just look at him and shake your head he'll act like it's the end of the world.

He's also a climber.

Sir Edmund Hillary scales another chair mountain

I don't remember MC being this bad. Perhaps it's a girl / boy difference or perhaps it comes from the fact the second one always wants to do more to be like their older sibling. It can be exhausting.

Seriously exhausting.

Some days I feel like I'm constantly telling him not to do something. I seem to spend my time plucking him down from cabinets he's trying to scale like Edmund Hillary. Or I'll be trying to grab something from him that he shouldn't have and he knows it. He'll look at me with a cheeky expression, show me what's in his hand and then run off at full speed laughing as he knows I'll take chase. I swear he's going to be a serious contender to Usain Bolt's records soon. The boy is fast.

But I'm enjoying it.

I'm enjoying watching him explore his new and exciting world. I'm enjoying the fun he brings to our lives. I'm enjoying the fact he absolutely loves his sleep. I'm enjoying his cuddles when he's tired. I'm enjoying his loving and incredible bond with his big sister - we will both miss her on a daily basis in September - the kids generally play so lovely together.

Yes, I'm enjoying my kids and I'm enjoying my life.

Each and every day (even when it's not a particularly good day) I am so thankful that both my children are here with us and happy and healthy.

I feel truly blessed.

Blessed with a beautiful family, supportive parents and Sister, amazing friends (both near and far) and a wonderful home.

What more could a girl (I can still call myself a girl at almost 40, can't I?) possibly want?

I guess I want my blogging mojo to return for the sake of these two as I love having somewhere to look back on a record of their lives and I want them to have it to read when they're older.

I am hopeful it will return in full force but, for now, I'm sure they will understand mummy has taken a little break.

#MeAndMine - A Family Portrait (July)

I missed out on last months Me and Mine as we moved house and were without Internet for a while *weeps a little at the memory*. As it was, we didn't have time to take a family photo anyway as life was hectic - I would have had to use another Florida one taken at the beginning of June.

So, catching up on 2 months worth really. What have we been up to?

The holiday to Orlando was incredible. I finally got my first blog post about children's ages for Disney live the other day. 3 weeks after returning from holiday we moved house. We've been in a month now and...

...we love it here.

I'll be blogging about it at some point but the house is gorgeous. We love having so much room, the neighbourhood is lovely and we've made friends already - so has MC! We are perfectly happy here.

The kids seem to have settled into the new house brilliantly. They are growing up so fast. MC has finished nursery class and will be starting full time school in September. TC is starting to develop his speech more and is fast becoming a keen footballer already.

So, as I said, life has been full on. We don't get a huge amount of time together as a family of 4 anyway as every other weekend we have to see the inlaws (they live in Nottingham) so that always has to be considered when planning anything. This weekend just gone though, with the house pretty much sorted, we decided to have some much overdue family time.

With the weather warm and sunny we packed up a picnic and headed to Greenfield Valley Heritage Park.

I took so many photos of the kids enjoying the grass, the flowers, the abbey ruins and playing football. It was just so lovely to watch them having fun.

It was perfect.

So I decided to set up the timer on the camera to make sure I got a photo of all 4 of us.

It took it.

Then I checked the photo.

I immediately dissolved into a fit of the giggles.

In my rush to set up the photo with us all on the picnic mat I'd forgotten to move the cool bag from in front of TC*.

What appeared on the camera screen was hilarious. Matt and I couldn't stop laughing.

It so looks like TC is actually in the cool bag (he wasn't I must add, he was sat behind it)!

That was it... I'd got my Me and Mine photo instantly. I didn't bother taking another one.

There was no need.

To me, this is perfect and hilarious in equal measures.

*If I'd been even more picky I would've moved the pushchair too :)

Letting Go

My little girl is growing up.

She only turned 4 in March and I'm now facing a real emotional struggle.

A struggle of happiness and proudness but also a struggle of sadness at letting go.

We moved house just 3 weeks ago and it seemed this weekend, after the children finished school for the summer on Friday, that they all took to the outdoors. There are a lot of children of all ages living here and our next door neighbours little boy, who is 7, seems to really like MC.

They first met briefly on Saturday morning as I was popping out to the shops with her quickly. We hadn't been home long before there was a knock at the door.

"Can MC come out to play?"

Before long there were 4 kids in an out of our house and garden. Cries of "We are just going to so and so's house to play on the trampoline", "We are just going to the park","Can we have buckets and spades to collect some rocks?","Can we have ice lollies?".

It was exhausting but it was also lovely.

I know that this is now our life.

The children were 6, 7 and 8 so all older than MC but they were brilliant with her. I watched her play from the window. So grown up but also so small.

We are lucky that we live in a really safe community and we live right in the centre of a quiet cul-de-sac drive with a park opposite.

It doesn't stop me worrying though.

It all feels very alien to me. I don't know if I'm quite ready to be letting her go just yet.

She's my baby. I know she'll always be my baby girl but she's growing up so so fast.

Even tonight, at 7.30pm they called for her. Today I had the boy from next door here for lunch and then the boy down the road walking in the French doors later in the afternoon to come play.

I know that the summer holidays are only just beginning and she'll be making even more friends with the other children who are closer to her own age. I know she's got her head screwed on for a 4 year old but she's also easily led and distracted as any child her age can be.

She starts full-time school in September and I was going to struggle a bit letting her go then, but it seems I've lost her already.

I'm letting her go but tonight I'm holding her tight.

As I sit here typing this she's in my bed, still awake, as we've stayed up to watch Toy Story and the Royal Baby coverage whilst Daddy is away.

I don't think I'm really ready to let go just yet.

First Builders By Mega Bloks - Making Our New Build Move Easier

I knew moving house was pretty stressful. I'd done it 5 times before.

However, I'd never moved with children before.

So to move with a 4 year old and a 15 month old was hard going. My parents (thankfully!) had the kids for us the night before and the day of the move but we still had 1 or more of them almost everyday leading up to that. Everyone who knows me knows how stressed out I was before the move.

I was also wondering how the kids would settle in the new house and how on earth Matt and I were going to unpack with them both running rings around us.

In all the stress I'd completely forgotten to buy the kids a couple of 'new house' toys.

That's when The Entertainer came to our rescue.

We absolutely love Mega Bloks in our house. Mini Cheddar had the play table, lots of bags of bricks and an In The Night Garden play set when she was a year old and beyond. We'd not long put them away before TC arrived on the scene. Around his first birthday I got them all out again and he loved them. Surprisingly, so did MC.

So imagine the delight when The Entertainer sent us a bundle of the new Mega Bloks 'First Builders' toys to put to the test.

First Builders are new learning blocks aimed at 1-5 year olds and I thought both the kids would love them. I just never realised how much.



We were sent the following:

First Builders Big Building Bag
First Builders 1-2-3 Count!
Lil' Vehicles - Dylan Dump Truck

They have been perfect for keeping the kids occupied safely whilst Matt and I have been unpacking boxes (although I fear we'll still be unpacking by Christmas!).

As with all the Mega Bloks range they are bright, chunky and easy to assemble.

MC was actually first on the scene and was eager to unpack the blocks. I thought she may be disappointed that they were 'baby toys' but she loved them straight away.


I have to admit, that at 15 months, TC was more interested in the bags - which, are now environmentally friendly PVC bags - and loved putting taking the blocks out and putting them in again. He then discovered he could do the same with Dylan Dump Truck and, what's more, the truck could tip it's dumper so the blocks came out which amused him greatly! It also came with a few blocks which was a bonus.

The1-2-3 Count! bag was my favourite (apparently they do a letters version too) as, not only were there 30 blocks included, there were also over 50 stickers containing numbers and pictures to stick on the blocks. MC is due to move up to reception in September and has already started learning to add and subtract so these blocks are perfect. We got the Mega Bloks table out to stack them on and had fun practicing sums.

I think it's a great and interesting way to teach sums for pre-schoolers and I know we'll be getting a lot of use out of these over the summer holidays which start tomorrow. Yay!

Of course, the Big Building Bag was great too - 60 blocks of various shapes and sizes which have been primarily either thrown around the room (TC) or built into the tallest towers ever (MC).

All in all, we think these new range of blocks from Mega Bloks are fun and educational. What every pre-school toy should be.

You can buy the First Builders range from your local The Entertainer store or online (www.thetoyshop.com) for the following prices*


First Builders Big Building Bag - £15.00
First Builders 1-2-3 Count! - £10.00
Lil' Vehicles - Dylan Dump Truck - £10.00

We are part of The Entertainer review team and were

sent the Mega Bloks First Builders toys to review 

but all photographs, words, views and opinions are entirely my own.

*prices correct at time of writing

#MeAndMine - A Family Portrait (May) The Florida Edition!

This past month we've had more photos taken as a family than we have done ever.

You see, this month we've been on holiday in Orlando, Florida (I'm still here as I write this post!).

I actually almost forgot about this post and whilst looking at photos on my camera yesterday I suddenly realised the date.

Anyone who follows my Instagram feed will know we've been having a totally amazing time!

I have to admit, I was a little nervous about such a big holiday with two small children. We holidayed here last January when I was pregnant and so I knew MC loved it but I was unsure how TC would cope with the travelling and the heat being so young.

I needn't have worried a bit.

At just 14 months old (3 days ago) he has loved every single second of it (separate post to follow on our return) even though the weather has been between 30-35c every day. He was a dream on the 9.5 hour flight too and he literally hasn't stopped smiling since.

We've had some pretty awesome magical moments out here. Both kids have loved the character meets. MC runs up to each character and wraps her arms around them like they are long lost family. TC can sometimes be a tiny bit shy with the 'people' characters like the Princesses etc. but with those like Mickey and Minnie he's loved them. He has a particular soft spot for Wreck It Ralph and even enjoyed meeting Darth Vadar!

One of the highlights of the holiday came Wednesday night when, after experiencing the ever amazing fireworks at Epcot, we drove over to The Magic Kingdom for some late night fun. We managed to catch the fireworks there then did some more rides and character meets. We were the last public in the new Fantasyland area of the character meet when Minnie, Daisy, Donald and Goofy were all knocking off for the night. They saw MC and started playing with her. We got a photo of her with all 4 of them. She was beside herself!

During this holiday I've watched the bond between our two children grow even stronger. They've laughed so hard together and TC has developed even more of a cheeky character than he had before. Matt and I have enjoyed spending our 6th Wedding Anniversary out here. We've also enjoyed our time together as a family of 4 so much and I'm going to treasure these memories as I know, when we get back to the UK, we have the house move happening in less than 3 weeks and everything will feel like a blur.

We've been out here 17 nights now and we still have 5 nights left. I know that the kids don't want to go home and neither do Matt and I...even though we have a new house to move into.

I kind of put my tears on the plane home last year down to pregnancy hormones but thinking about leaving here next week I'm welling up already.

We feel so at home out here.

I have so many family photos I want to share but, for the moment, they are in my Disney Photopass account which I won't be sorting until I'm back in the UK. So I can only share a few that have been taken on my camera or my phone by other people (and a couple of others for good measure). I hope they still manage to give you a small idea of just how incredible it's been so far.

Here's to another amazing holiday out here and being ever thankful for just how lucky we are.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

#SilentSunday 96

#MessyPlay - Pink & Purple Jelly And Chocolate Stars!

This messy play was meant to be so special. I had so much more planned but time was against me.

I wanted it to be extra special as today is Jennie's first theme (pink and purple to honour the beautiful Matilda Mae) and it's also my 6th wedding anniversary.

Yes, 18th May 2007 - Matt and I said "I do" and I openly admit he's the best thing (children aside) that's happened to me.

He's definitely my soul mate.

*passes sick bucket*

Anyway, I'll admit, I haven't been able to join in Jennie's lovely Messy Play Linky as much as I'd like. Life's just too damn hectic and I feel so ashamed saying that but going on holiday for over 3 weeks at the same time as moving house wasn't part of the plan. I have to say, the thought of messy play is that last thing I need.

However, my kids need it.

They need it because they love it.

So I try to find the time.

And I usually do when I set my mind to it.

Yes, the kids love it.

So much so that MC keeps asking me when we are going to do some. She was really upset when she found out TC and I had done the last messy play without her!

So, it was time to get them both involved.

I did have plans to create pink and purple jelly stars, ice cream and get some fairy lights in a dimly lit room with music to create a real sensory (and edible) experience for them.

In the end I just had to make do with pink (raspberry) and purple (blackcurrant) jelly and some little white chocolate stars.

TC didn't like it at first. He got a bit upset when he first touched the jelly but it was so funny, as much as he didn't like it, he was totally intrigued by it.

He kept touching it.

Again and again.

Then he tasted some.

After about 10-15 touches he got more confident and dived in.

MC joined in and soon there was jelly everywhere.

And the stars came out!

I thought a lot about Matilda Mae while watching the pink and purple and the stars and wondering whether she was watching us somewhere.

MC poured them into the Tuff Spot and they both played with in jelly and chocolate heaven for ages.

It became very slippy in the Tuff Spot but great fun.

I think they both liked the feel of the jelly between their toes.

It wasn't the grand plan I had in mind but the kids enjoyed it.

I enjoyed watching them and I got some time to sit and think of how lucky I am to have two such happy, healthy and gorgeous children. And a gorgeous and amazing man who loves us.

Here's to the next 6 years of marriage.

And here's to Matilda Mae - a beautiful star in the sky.

Head over to Jennie's blog and check out all the amazing pink and purple themed messy play this week. Also, it's not too late to donate to Jennie's Just Giving page - raising money for The Lullaby Trust. 

Even just £1 will help. 

Thank you.

#MessyPlay - Rice And Oats Edible Play

Time is something really lacking in my life at the moment. Hectic is an understatement.

I couldn't join in with Jennie's lovely linky last week as we just didn't have a moment to organise some messy play and it's really been getting to me. My first messy play involved Mini Cheddar whilst her baby brother slept. I really wanted to involve him this time and so today, while his big sister was out with my parents, I made sure I had a day just dedicated to spending quality time with my gorgeous little man. Something I haven't had chance to do that much of late.

We've been having a lovely day.

We spent the first part of the morning leisurely eating toast and playing, then we practised his standing and walking with the help of his micro scooter and then I decided to get the Tuff Spot out whilst he had a little nap so it was ready for him when he woke.

I wanted to do something fairly easy as his first experience so when he woke I got some flavoured porridge oats that I had in the cupboard and put some of them in the Tuff Spot.

He was a bit reluctant at first...

But then he dived in and there was no stopping him. He loved raking the rice and oats with his hands and feet, making patterns. He loved picking the oats up and letting it fall onto his legs - he also loved eating it! I then added some paella rice I had left over and added them to the oats.

I then slowly poured the rest of the rice into the Tuff Spot. TC loved watching the rice fall and also loved trying to catch it. He got the small cup bath toys that I had added to the play and tried to catch the rice and he also started talking and saying "Ta" to hand them to me to help him.

He then grabbed the bag of rice off me and proceeded to shake it about to get the rest of the rice out. The result was bits of paella rice flying EVERYWHERE and his laughing so much. He thought it was hilarious.

He was cleaned off with a dust down and a vest and nappy change (ready for a bath later tonight) and he even smelled of apples from the flavoured porridge oats! I scooped the rice and oats into an airtight container to use again for more messy play and then I got the vacuum cleaner out to sort the rest.

The result - one very happy baby.

This was only the second messy play we've done but it just shows how simple it can be to give your children great play activities. I'm excited for the summer and some outdoors messy play!

Now head over to Jennie's blog and check out some amazing ideas.