My Week That Was....

Another lovely week in this household.

Monday - we decided to have a quiet one today. The girls were both shattered so we had a day at home starting with a lazy lie in and complete with Disney film Tangled (Poppy's favourite)!

Tuesday - Today was our 8 year anniversary. Poppy decided we should celebrate by making a cake. Both girls got stuck in and we made a big carrot cake complete with pink icing and a heart made of chocolate balls...all her design!

Once the girls were tucked up in bed, Husband went off to collect the curry we ordered whilst I had a lovely soak in the bath complete with Lush ball, then we ate and watched a film. ...a very relaxing evening!

Wednesday - The weather was rubbish today so all plans to head to the park were dashed. Instead I decided I needed to catch up on the ironing pile as it was overflowing! The girls were very well behaved - with a supply of snacks, they happily played together in the playroom with the mega blocks:

Thursday - Today Poppy was really missing her friends so we decided to get crafty. First I let them loose a cereal box,  glue and a box of goodies to stick on them. Then Poppy found a packet of beads and a pipe cleaner and decided to make herself a bracelet. It was very pretty.

Friday - Daddy finished work early so we got to spend the afternoon with him which was lovely.  Poppy also got to work decorating a brush, comb and mirror set she received for her birthday last year. A fun but lazy day!

Saturday - We took the girls swimming. We have been quite a few times in the last month and both girls are becoming much more confident. The difference was amazing. Afterwards we were starving and decided to go to Pizza Hut as a treat. It was really nice and the girls were both very well behaved...a lovely day out!

Sunday - We went to Pennywell Farm for the day. It was a lovely day out and apart from one temper tantrum from Rosie and one incident of a goat pinching Poppy's name sticker of her chest and eating it... all was well. My highlights were holding a baby duckling and seeing Poppy enjoy her first pony rides:

All in all another lovely week.

Karen x

A Trip To The Farm

Today was the last day of the Easter Holidays so we decided to do something special and took the girls to Pennywell Farm, Buckfastleigh, South Devon.

Picture taken at end of day

As soon as we arrived we knew we were going to enjoy ourselves. We had only just got through the gates when us parents got the opportunity to hold  a baby duckling and show the girls. I was so excited. It was so cute and fluffy and very soft. He was obviously used to being handled and wasn't scared at all. It made my day:

We then saw a variety of small animals including rabbits and guinea pigs and Poppy got to hold a baby mouse which she really enjoyed:

Rosie was so excited and didn't stay in her pushchair long. She just wanted to get out and touch all the animals. I was amazed by how fearless she was...feeding baby goats and donkeys and sticking her fingers up their noses.... um-mm nice!

Here are a load more photos of the girls having fun:

Another Highlight for me was Poppy having her first pony ride. As someone who used to ride a lot when I was younger I have been dying to get her on a pony for ages and was really happy she enjoyed it:

As well as seeing all the animals, real tractor rides for the whole family and a picnic, the girls were thrilled there were several playground areas and loads of tramperlines to keep them amused:

A great family day out to end the holidays on.

Karen x

100/366 - Egg and Spoon Race

Wow my 100th photo for the year! I feel it should be a really good one but it isn't...it is a fun one though!

The girls were getting fidgety this morning, so carrying on the Easter theme...we had an egg and spoon race in the hall:

The eggs might look real...but they weren't. They had great fun though. Poppy was brilliant and really proud of herself as you can see, whilst Rosie kept dropping it and shouting "smash, smash, smash". Oh well, she had fun running up and down the hall anyway.

They also have at least two hair bows in each after I came downstairs with a handful of them from the bathroom. They insisted they put them all in and I couldn't say no!

Karen x

99/366 - Easter Egg Hunt

The girls went on a treasure hunt today and found some lovely little eggs and an Easter Bunny. They thought they were the luckiest girls in the Whole Wide World.

This was pretty much the only time Little miss Rosie smiled all day though - she has been teething and grumpy with it!

Karen x

87/366 - We Like Chocolate!

Tonight Husband came home with this lovely box of Thornton's chocolates as a special treat:

After a pretty bad day it was a lovely surprise and the girls thought so too.

Karen x

My Week That Was...

Another week has gone and Spring is officially here. The weather has improved and we have all been enjoying it.

Monday - was a bit of a quiet one. Usual day at home with Rosie but also started to sort through some of the baby stuff...very exciting!

Tuesday - Toddler group at the School. It is working really well with Poppy staying for lunch, everyone is happier and a little less tired.

Wednesday - Was supposed to be going to a toddler group but Husband had the car so couldn't go ;-(. the weather was lovely though so Rosie got to play outside.

Thursday - a trip to Sainsburys this morning reminded me why I usually have it delivered. I seemed to run round all day and it was a busy hectic one.

Friday - Usual music group this morning and then this afternoon my friend from uni came to stay :-).  I haven't seen her in years and she had not yet met the girls so it was lovely. Husband came home from work early so whilst he looked after the girls I took her her out for a quick walk around to show her around the village.  The girls took to her straight away, especially as she brought them some gorgeous presents.

Saturday - The weather was lovely so after Poppy's ballet lesson we headed off to the beach for a picnic! It was great to be out in the fresh air and the girls really enjoyed splashing around. They loved having Nics to stay, especially Poppy who got so wet chasing her around, she stripped off to her knickers! Luckily Nics had a spare top so we made it into a dress for her. I got a bit burnt on one arm but it had faded by the next day. I also enjoyed the 99 ice cream we had in the park!

Sunday - Nicky had to go home today and we were all sorry to see her go. To cheer ourselves up we headed off to the pool which was great fun. It was then a quick lunch stop before we had to get home because Husband had to go to work. We won't see him until Tuesday now :-(

Here's our week in pictures:

Hope you all enjoyed a lovely week too.

Karen x

84/366 - Fun At The Beach

We are loving the gorgeous weather today and headed off to the beach to enjoy it.:

We have my old friend from Uni staying with us this weekend so it was really good to be able to get out and enjoy the fresh air.

Karen x

79/366 - Winding Down....Honestly!

Usually after their bath, the girls are relaxed and ready to cuddle up quietly for story time....not tonight though. They were full of beans:

Trying to get a photo of them was almost impossible, they wouldn't sit still. Luckily they are both in bed, fast asleep now though.

Karen x

My Week That was....

Wow another week has sped past and we are now half way through March. I know I say it every week but this year is going so quickly.

Monday  - Poppy went off to Preschool today all excited in her new Summer dress. I cant remember much else about this day so it couldn't have been that interesting!

Tuesday - Rosie and I enjoyed a lovely lazy morning at home whilst Poppy was at Preschool. Then we went down to join her for the toddler group where we all enjoyed ourselves. Due to my increasing back ache and struggle with the School run, Poppy had a packed lunch rather than coming home in between. This worked really well.

Wednesday - Still without a car we couldn't do a lot but Rosie and I enjoyed a lovely morning at home. She had me singing and playing, reading stories and helping her dress up.

Thursday - Husband managed to pick the car up today  so we decided to go to my parents tomorrow for the weekend. I was really excited as not seen them in absolutely ages. Poppy and I also made some more of our lovely chocolates and gift wrapped them in a box for Grandma for Mothers Day.

Friday -  We went to our usual music group in the morning which was great fun. Then about 4ish headed off to Nanny and Gramps for the weekend. My Nana was there too so it was a full house but lovely to see everyone.

Saturday - I got to go shopping!! It was lovely. Husband and I got to leave the girls and go into town for  a bit. We had recently been given a bit of money to treat the girls and I also wanted to buy the new baby something. I managed to buy lots including almost matching dresses for all three girls...so cute:

They are going to look adorable!

Sunday - was Mothers Day. It was so lovely to spend it with both my Mum and my Nana. Mum was thrilled with her Family photos frame we had made her . She also got sent some yummy Thorntons chocolates  form Find Me A Gift in return for a post I had written about her. We helped make a small dent in the huge box she received.

I was thrilled to receive all of these:

The girls really enjoyed being able to play in Nanny and Gramp's garden and tree house, whilst Husband and I planted a new Plum and apple tree for my parents. They already have a pear tree so it will be lovely when they have grown.

It really  was a relaxing, enjoyable weekend and we  all enjoyed a delicious roast diner before heading back.

A lovely end to the week.

Karen x

My Week That Was...

Another week of fun in this house, this year really  is flying by.

Monday - A lovely usual Monday. Rosie and I spent the morning playing, then I cleaned whilst she napped and I even got to do some blogging too which was very nice.

Tuesday - We headed off for our 20 weeks scan this afternoon and saw our baby on screen. We were really relived to see everything was developing as it should and excited to discover we are having another little girl. Poppy was really happy and shouted out "see, I told you it didn't have a willy". Cheeky monkey.

Wednesday -  Rosie and I enjoyed a lazy day at home. We were going to a toddler group but Daddy took the car. When I picked Poppy up from School this afternoon she had a croaky throat and went downhill quickly. I really struggled with the School run today and ache all over.

Thursday -  After a bad night coughing last night I decided to keep Poppy off School, However, she was driving me mad running around as if nothing was wrong  this morning. The car then broke down with husband in it so he was not happy and had to sort that out, whilst I went mad throwing out bags of stuff including a bin bag of toys. I think the nesting has seriously kicked in. This afternoon, Poppy went downhill and curled up in my lap and went to sleep. We enjoyed  a lovely cuddle until an awful coughing fit woke her up poor thing. All in all, not a great day!

Friday - We had to walk to our music group this morning as our car is in the garage and they have lent us a little run around which the girls car seats don't fit in...not handy at all.

Luckily it was a lovely morning. When we got there however, only one person turned up. We decided it wasn't worth running so we all went for a coffee instead which was still lovely. Poppy was quite happy as it was her friend from School and we all walked home together. I struggled with pushing the Bugaboo up the hill and am not sure how on earth I am going to manage the School run as I get bigger.

Saturday - We enjoyed a leisurely morning and breakfast in bed as we didn't have to rush off to Poppy's ballet lesson. Without a car, there was no way we could get there. Once we were all up and dressed we walked over to Dartmouth,had a look around and let the girls play in the park. The weather was quite nice so we treated the girls to an ice cream from our favourite shop. We then picked up the stuff to make panini's at home which were delicious. Unfortunately I developed a migraine this afternoon which pretty much lasted 24 hours. Not nice! Luckily Husband was fab and just took over, letting me go back to bed.

Sunday - Luckily I felt much better today but without a car we couldn't go far, Husband took Poppy out on her bike for a while and then this afternoon I made some play dough with her and we made a 3d rocket picture too.  We also made a yummy chocolate coconut cake....delicious. It is obvious that she is feeling much better and is ready to get back to School.

Here's our week in pictures:

So a bit of a mixed week for us, hoping the car gets fixed soon and then we are going to be on the lookout for a new one.

Karen x

49/366 - Balls!

The girls love playing with balls and we have a variety of them in different sizes and colours. Only one problem though....they always end up rolling under the sofa.

This is a regular sight in our house although fairly often its my bottom down there with the girls:

Karen x

What Is A Good Parent?

Someone close to me has had a bit of a hard time recently and has questioned how good a parent they really are. They are of course, fabulous parents but it did get me thinking that at some point we all have  a little wobble and wonder are we doing it right?

So what is a good parent?

Is it getting your children to sleep through the night?

Is it having well behaved children you can take out in public?

Maybe its one who has strict rules and well disciplined children,

or maybe one that that just has lots of fun and plays with their children.

Perhaps it is just showing your children how much they are loved and always being on hand to give the required cuddles and kisses.

What do you think?

I think that Husband and I are doing our very best to be the best possible parents we can. We might not always get it right or do it the way others do but we work together as a team and stick by each other.

We want our girls to grow up happy and confident, feeling loved and special, believing they are gorgeous and clever and that they can do anything they want to if they work hard enough.

We have used baby whisper techniques to help us understand our children and get them into a good routine. For us, it was important that they grew up to eat and sleep well as we believe these are two of the most important factors in having happy, well behaved children.

We discipline our children using a naughty cushion, we would never ever smack them. We do not want out children to grow up scared or frightened of us or worse still, go on to treat others violently. We want them to be kind, well manored and to respect others.

We make sure we play with our children lots, we get down on the floor and make a mess, we get crafty, make cakes or bring leaves in from outside to paint.  We might not be that good at it but we try.

We have lots of family days out, many that don't cost anything like trips to the beach, walks in the park or jumping in puddles. We cuddle up on the sofa every evening after bath time for story time, where we read book after book until bedtime.

We give our girls lots of kisses and cuddles daily, we tickle them, spin them round and make them giggle but most of all we tell them how much they are loved.

So are we good parents? I like to think so. We might not be perfect but we are definitely doing our very best and I think that's all any of us can do.

Karen x