Siblings // Toby and Gabe in August (2017)

Toby and Gabe are best of friends

I swear I only just wrote last month’s Siblings post but it’s definitely that time again! Toby and Gabe have actually been getting on a bit better the last month. I think Gabe being able to talk more (and stand up for himself a bit) is definitely helping. Toby has been trying to include him in his play a lot more too – it’s like he’s realised Gabe really isn’t a baby anymore. Read more

Remembering Childhood // Sophie’s Nursery

Lauren from Sophie's Nursery with her cat Emily

It’s that time of week when another blogger is going to be sharing their childhood memories. This week’s Remembering Childhood comes from Lauren from Sophie’s Nursery.

Which decade were you born in?

1980s

What is your earliest memory? How old were you?

My earliest memory is going on holiday to Wales with my mum, dad, nan, grandad and  great gran! Read more

Living Arrows 32/52 (2017)

Gabe at Brockholes

I can’t really think what we did last week – the weather was pretty awful so we did quite a lot of staying at home and playing with trains! My mum and dad came back from their holidays so we went to see them on Friday and the boys got a load of freebies that they had picked up when they were watching the Tour de France. Toby also got a little booklet that I think had come free with National Geographic – it’s about surviving in the rainforest but it’s all LEGO characters and pictures. And he’s obsessed with it! He’s not stopped ‘reading’ it since he got it.

When it comes to building though we are still all about the DUPLO in our house Read more

Moving home with kids // How to minimise their stress

Saying goodbye to the old house

*This is a collaborative post

My Timehop has been reminding me over the last few days that it’s a year since we moved to our new house. Moving to a new home with children can be a stressful time for everyone. During all the organisation, it’s easy to forget about the effect it’ll have on the kids. Different children will, of course, react to things differently, but it’s important that they feel involved, and there are some ways to ensure the move goes smoothly for them too, even if they are only small. Read more

Remembering Childhood // Captain Bobcat

It’s that time of week when another blogger is going to be sharing their childhood memories. This week’s Remembering Childhood comes from Eva from Captain Bobcat.

Which decade were you born in?

The ’70s. I’m nearing 40, which is the new 30.  Am I right?

What is your earliest memory? How old were you?

I’m not sure if it’s a real memory or I’ve been told this story so many times by my parents (and also have photos about it) that I think this is my earliest memory: my 4th birthday party, summer afternoon, wearing a pink and white checkered summer dress, barefoot, eating the chocolate cake (still my favourite) my mum made for my birthday and I have my friends from kindergarten over at our house. This was my first real birthday party.

What was your favourite toy at 5 years old? At 10?

Read more

Me & Mine // A Family Portrait (July 2017)

Me & Mine family cuddles

July has been another fairly quiet month for us. At the start of the month we had a trip up to the Lakes to see Barry’s mum and dad, and we went on the Lakeside & Haverthwaite railway (I’ve still got a vlog to edit about it that I’ll get round to doing one of these days).

We had Toby’s birthday this month too of course, but the celebrations were quiet ones at home. It’s Gabe’s birthday in a few weeks too and we’re planning a little family party for bot of them then.

Other than that we’ve had a few trips to the park and not much else really. Toby is slowly getting used to the idea of starting school soon, we’ve even started a countdown wall chart so it doesn’t come as too much of a surprise when it happens, and I managed to get him to try on his uniform the other day, after a bit of a protest! Read more

Living Arrows 31/52 (2017)

Gabe playing with the choo choo trains

I don’t know what the weather has been like with you the last week but it’s been pretty awful here. We’ve managed to get out of the house a little bit but we’ve had plenty of quiet times at home too. On Friday the boys stayed in their pyjamas all day and we brought the train set down from where it had been living upstairs.

My brother and sister-in-law bought Toby a massive wooden train set for Christmas but it’s been in our spare bedroom since then. Toby has been going up to play with it sometimes but when we first got it Gabe was a bit too young to appreciate it and we could just see it causing arguments when he destroyed the track or took the trains. Read more

Remembering Childhood // Mummy to Dex

Nicola from Mummy to Dex as a child

It’s that time of week when another blogger is going to be sharing their childhood memories. This week’s Remembering Childhood comes from Nicola at Mummy to Dex.

Which decade were you born in?

The 1980s

What is your earliest memory? How old were you?

My earliest memory is of my Grandad taking me to a café on the industrial estate in Denbigh and my Grandma doing the ironing in my house. My mum had been taken to hospital and I was around two years old. I can remember my Grandad had a plaster on his hand and my Dad came home from work in the afternoon. It was probably the first time I had been away from my parents for an extended period of time which is why I can remember it so vividly.

What was your favourite toy at 5 years old? At 10?

Read more

Bedroom makeover inspiration

*This is a collaborative post

When we moved house we decided that although the master bedroom was upstairs, we would take one of the other bedrooms downstairs so we could be next to the boys’ room. You can see our rather unusual house layout in my house tour video so you can see what I mean.

At the moment we are living in a mismatched room with our old bed and bedding, a wardrobe full of the boys’ clothes, not enough storage for our own things and the curtains from the living room at our old house! I can’t wait until we have a lovely bedroom with matching bedding and curtains again – I think they can really make a difference to a room don’t you? Read more