I sometimes imagine my Little Sparkles weeks as a title from Friends. This week would be ‘The one with the bugs, bumps and ballet.’ We seem to have fitted a lot into this week, it started with Little Man being poorly with the bug which swept his school, my fall from which I am still hurting, last minute weekend ballet rehearsals and the exam on Wednesday and finishing on Thursday with a wonderful classical music concert for the children. This has definitely been a Mummy week and I appreciate how lucky I am to have such an understanding employer who has allowed me to swap hours to accommodate my needs this week.

READ

Today when they got home from school, Little Miss and Little Man discovered a postcard from Tommy our elf. They were so excited and I loved hearing Little Man asking Little Miss to read it to him and her reading it beautifully aloud. It was a warm, fuzzy moment and I was so pleased I had made the effort to send the postcard.

WATCHED

I love the Blackpool Strictly episode so thoroughly enjoyed Saturday night’s television, the extra dancers and pizazz just make it even more sparkly and fun. My favourites are still in the competition and the programme is my tv highlight each week. Apart from Strictly I haven’t watched much tv this week, in the evenings I’ve been getting organised for Christmas, writing lists, gaining inspiration form the Internet and planning.

LISTENED

On Thursday afternoon, I accompanied Little Man’s class to a classical music concert. It was a delightful experience to introduce children to classical music. Little Miss also went with her class, we waved across the hall! I really like being a Mum helper on these type of trips, it’s why I work part time so I can volunteer some time to help on events such as this. It was a lovely community event with all the schools from our town and surrounding villages attending and some senior members of the community helping too. The children all brought their teddies and got to ‘dance’ with them during the concert, they also got to conduct and jump up and down in certain pieces of music too. I was so impressed by all the children they were really well behaved and all very actively participating in the concert. The orchestra were so friendly and welcoming, for some songs they came among the audience and all were dressed casually to be more approachable. It was such a pleasure to attend and enjoy the beautiful music played at this concert and to see the children’s discovery of classical music, a real musical treat for us all.

MADE

I love homemade soup and chunky granary bread, its my ultimate comfort food. Sometimes I will follow a recipe at other times it’s whatever vegetables I have at home chucked into a pot. This week I have made a few soups all of which have been delicious.

In a tenuous link, I have also made progress on my Christmas planning. Living in a small town with lots of independent shops, I have always tried to support my local commerce by shopping locally and I picked up a few things this week. I have also challenged myself not to simply shop locally but to try and buy goods made in the UK. This week I’ve chosen some Caroline Gardner Christmas cards and discovered Poppy Trewenny and their hand stitched goods made in Cornwall. Unfortunately despite my best intentions, there will be plastic imports from China among my shopping as Star Wars figures feature heavily on Christmas lists.

WORE

Little Miss wore her hair so beautifully and looked so neat and tidy for her ballet exam on Wednesday, I was so proud of my little dancer.   It was such an organised event and there were hairdressers on hand to put the girls’ hair into buns. I was so relieved, my hair is short so I have no experience in styling. I spent the morning at the base helping Little Miss to get dressed and then I waited whilst she did the exam. It was such a lovely morning, catching up with Mums, encouraging the dancers, congratulating them on their return and just being among the excitement.

I have worn bandages on my right hand this week. My running injury is still pretty ugly and I returned to the hospital today to have it checked and redressed. It is healing but part of the wound is still open. My hand is badly bruised with an odd mix of yellow and green bruising. I need to return again on Wednesday for another check. I am so grateful for our cottage hospital. There was a big campaign to save it a few years ago and I’m so pleased it was successful, it really is so important to our town.

AND FINALLY..

Next week is the first without Mr S who starts his new contract on Monday. It will be tough without my support team but we’ll make new routines and work together as Team Sparkles, wish me luck x