photography

- Sarah 17 Comments

Living Arrows 19/52 (2017)

We enjoyed another bank holiday weekend last week – in his old job Barry didn’t have to take bank holidays off so would often work them to save the annual leave for other times but now he has to take them and it’s actually quite nice to be forced to have some extra family time!

Last Saturday we went to the SEA LIFE Blackpool and had a lovely time seeing all the fish and other creatures. We had a day at home on Sunday with a visit from my in-laws and so on Monday we were all in need of some fresh air and time out of the house.

We drove over to the next village – it’s very picturesque with a village green that has a duck pond and a cricket pitch. We actually put an offer on a house there when we were moving but someone beat us to it! Anyway, just because we don’t live there doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy it, although this was the first time we’d actually been there.

Gabe watching the ducks with daddy

We took some birdseed for the ducks Read more

- Sarah 4 Comments

Living Arrows 17/52 (2017)

After last Monday’s visit to the Gruffalo trail at Grizedale forest the rest of the week was back to normal with nursery for the boys and time to catch up on some housework for me.

On Friday we went to our local forest playgroup for the first time. Toby really enjoyed learning all about bees and doing some bee related crafts. And Gabe enjoyed most of the session in the carrier on my back, which saved me spending the whole time chasing him around! We’ll definitely be back again soon.

The weekend saw a trip to the park, pizza for tea (we even went out for it!), and a visit to soft play as one of Toby’s reward chart treats. Toby and Barry also planted some seeds and put them out on our balcony, hopefully they’ll grow and we’ll have some lovely flowers soon.

I took this week’s Living Arrows photos out in the garden yesterday afternoon while the seed planting was going on…

Toby in the garden with the sun in his hair
Toby has been a little superstar lately (most of the time at least). Read more

- Sarah 5 Comments

Living Arrows 16/52 (2017)

I’m a little late with this post this week – the long weekend has put me all out of sync. Actually though the main reason is that I fell asleep when I was putting Toby to bed last night so I didn’t get round to getting my computer out!

Last week’s sun seems to have mostly disappeared this week and we’ve had a pretty quiet Easter weekend. Last Monday though we met my friend Claire and her twins at a park near Warrington (we do a lot of meeting in Warrington as it’s about half way between our houses). It was very busy with it being the school holidays but we found a quiet spot to have a picnic and the boys all had fun running around.

Gabe showing his independence in the park

Gabe is a funny little character sometimes. Read more

- Sarah 11 Comments

Living Arrows 15/52 (2017)

Week 15 and it seems like spring has finally sprung! We’ve been having some lovely weather this week, and especially this weekend.

On Tuesday Toby had a day off nursery (mostly to save a bit of money as he doesn’t get his funded hours during the school holidays) but Gabe still went in so we had a mummy and son day. We didn’t do too much – we played with some of the games we don’t usually get out when Gabe is around, and then we went out to run a few errands and have an ice cream. We don’t get much time, just Toby and I on our own very often, except when Gabe is napping, so it was lovely to have a day just the two of us.

We had a little bit more one on one time on Friday too, but that wasn’t quite so much fun as it was for Toby to have his preschool immunisations. We decided to tell him what was going to happen but that meant he was scared before he even got there. He was OK in the end really. He wailed when they did it but recovered fairly quickly when I produced a new Gruffalo toy and a Kinder egg! He has complained about sore arms a couple of times but otherwise seems to be fine so far.

Gabe on the other hand has been grumpy all week. I’m not sure what’s wrong with him – possibly teeth, or a cold, or just some sort of virus. He’s had a couple of little spots on his face but nowhere else, and on Saturday woke up with sticky eyes which have mostly cleared up now. He’s been off his food a bit though and just exceptionally clingy and whingey. Hopefully whatever it is it will pass quickly.

Despite Gabe’s grumpiness we decided to make the most of the lovely weather this weekend, and as Toby’s reward for reaching the end of his chart that I mentioned last week, we went to the beach on Saturday. We were planning on going after lunch but after fighting to fit the car seats into our new car for ages it ended up being almost 3 pm before we set off. Read more

- Sarah 10 Comments

Living Arrows 14/52 (2017)

It’s been another fairly quiet week but a busy weekend. On Tuesday Barry and I did manage to go out for lunch on our own which is a pretty rare occurrence. I was working on Wednesday and then Thursday and Friday were quiet days pottering around at home. We had one of our usual walks to the shops and the park on Friday, and Toby has realised that the ice cream van is often near the park so we had a little treat too.

We’ve been using a reward chart with Toby for the last couple of weeks – he had started wetting himself nearly every day after being dry for months and it was just through sheer laziness. He had also got into the habit of getting up early and coming into our bed, which I don’t really mind too much but Gabe is usually in there too and he was waking him up as well.

Toby in Cartmel

So anyway, we made a chart which was ‘Toby’s race to the beach’ and he could move a space nearer to the beach for every day he had dry pants, for every morning he stayed in bed until the sun came out on his Gro-clock and extra spaces for being especially kind or helpful. We added in smaller rewards along the way -Toby is a bit obsessed with Kinder Eggs at the moment so they featured quite heavily, but we’d also put in a trip to soft play when he was getting towards the end of the chart. Read more

- Sarah 11 Comments

Living Arrows 13/52 (2017)

Another week done, and not a huge amount achieved. Sometimes it feels like we never really do anything but then maybe we don’t really need to. The boys have both got colds at the moment. They managed their two days at nursery but the rest of the week has mostly been spent at home, and I have been wiping noses every five minutes!

This weekend though it was my dad’s birthday so we went out for a meal. Eating out is a bit tricky at the moment. It has to be early enough for the boys to not be too hungry or too tired…and we don’t always get it quite right. Gabe huge fan of sitting in a highchair unless there’s food in front of him, and even then he’s not always that keen! Read more

- Sarah 3 Comments

Living Arrows 10/52 (2017)

I’ve been quite good this year at linking up my Living Arrows posts on a Monday and sharing pictures from the previous week. But we didn’t really do much last week, Gabe was ill again, and I didn’t get the big camera out once.

So I’m a little late this week, and these pictures were taken today on the beach at Tenby. We’re on holiday at Bluestone National Park resort in Wales this week (and I’ll be writing all about it when we get home). The weather hasn’t been great so far but we’re having a lot of fun and the boys loved it on the beach today, even if it was raining!

Toby next to the sea wall in Tenby

Gabe on the beach at Tenby

Oh, and I can’t take credit for these photos – Barry took them and I thought they were too good not to share.

Living Arrows
- Sarah 10 Comments

Living Arrows 9/52 (2017)

This week’s Living Arrows photos were taken this weekend. We went to a Christening / birthday party on Saturday but didn’t really have any plans for Sunday. Toby was going a bit stir crazy in the house so we just went out onto the street outside our house for him to have a scoot up and down and burn off a bit of energy.

I actually took loads of photos of him scooting and then pulling silly faces but I really like this one with the serious expression on his face…

Toby does a serious face

And when we came inside Gabe had got up from his nap and I still had the camera out so I got a few shots of him too. Read more

- Sarah 11 Comments

Living Arrows 8/52 (2017)

The last week has mostly been about continuing to recover from our illnesses of the week before. My tonsillitis is gone now thankfully and although they’re still a bit snotty the boys are feeling much better too.

Gabe has been in the wars a bit this week though – on Monday night I was trying to get the tea ready before Barry got home from work, I gave Gabe some baking trays and dried pasta to play with on the kitchen floor so I could keep an eye on him. Which was fine until Toby decided he would come and play too. Somehow he managed to accidentally whack Gabe right on the forehead with a baking tray and left him with a really nasty looking bruise and a bump too. Then at nursery on Wednesday he fell over when he was playing at the water tray and caught his cheek on the water wheel ending up with a cut there too. He didn’t seem too bothered by either injury but just looked a bit of a mess! Read more

- Sarah 11 Comments

Living Arrows 7/52 (2017)

The last week has been pretty awful as weeks go… Gabe’s cough and cold is still sticking around and his cough has really started to bother him at night so sleep hasn’t been great. Then last Monday I started getting a sore throat. Overnight I had a temperature but was shivering and by the time I woke up I could barely swallow. A trip to the doctors and I was diagnosed with bacterial tonsillitis and prescribed antibiotics.

Luckily it was a day the boys were at nursery so I thought I would get chance to rest but I got a phone call at lunchtime saying Toby had a temperature and I had to pick him up. By the time I got him home his temperature was normal and there didn’t seem to be anything wrong with him except a snotty nose. Nursery policy meant he couldn’t go back for 24 hours though.

All that would have been bad enough but on Wednesday morning I had an interview at a local school for a job starting in September. I had to teach a lesson and have a formal interview, all whilst struggling to swallow, let alone do anything else. Barry was working at home with the intention being he would take the boys to nursery in the morning but of course he had to have Toby at home until lunchtime. Read more