Month: February 2016

A quiet week in the Sparkles household with our normal routine back in place after half term. It’s been a feisty week railing against ridiculous rules and procedures but my frustrations and complaints have not been personal but aimed at organisations I’ve been dealing with.

Lightbox

This week just a little reminder after all the bureaucratic mess I’ve experienced that we need to be silly. Sometimes we’re all far too serious than we need to be.

Cake Inspiration

Little Miss and I have read an excellent book by the baker Fiona Cairns this week and have noted down a few ideas for some cakes in the coming months. Whilst doing my ironing today I also watched Cake Boss, I love their cakes and would love to be so skilled.

Parental Help

I needed to attend a work event on Thursday evening which clashed with gymnastics class, tea and bedtimes so not the easiest timing to get a babysitter for. Fortunately my parents volunteered to come down and help. Not only were they fantastic with the children, they stayed the next day to be in for my rearranged fridge delivery and tidied up too. It was amazing to have that extra help.

My New fridge

It has taken hours on the phone, unbelievable delays and logistical problems but finally after 3 weeks my new fridge freezer has arrived to replace the one which broke. I am no longer hanging my milk out the kitchen window (a trick learnt from uni days) and am grateful for all the modern appliances we have to simplify and facilitate our lives, life without a fridge has been a challenge and meant daily shopping!

Denim Jackets

I bought Little Miss her first denim jacket this week. It’s the perfect piece to any outfit. I am still wearing my favourite Gap denim jacket which I realise must now be counted as vintage as I bought it when I was 17! One of my favourite looks is a summer dress, preferably floral with a denim jacket or in winter a polo neck and jacket.

Finally

As I wrote it’s been a very quiet week, early nights and everyday jobs have filled my time. Fortunately, our diary is filling with nice things to do in the coming weeks so plenty to look forward to. I’ve also been doing some prepping this week for future events, my main focus this week has been costumes for World Book day, I will reveal all next week.

It’s been half term week so lots of time to spend with my lovely little family, we’ve had a few days away at my parents and done a few things around home too. In fact all that has been missing is a lazy day at home, perhaps we’ll do that over the weekend.

Sparkle 1 : The Simple Things

I am a believer that it’s the simple things which create a happy, warm childhood. On Saturday morning it was just Little Man and me at home and we sat down together and played Minions. We created stories for some of the characters and then created our own little challenge the Great Draw Off using Colin the Minion as our model. It was a lovely time to spend one to one with my Little Man.  Simple as it seems we also had a really fun time at the local swimming pool, swimming has been curtailed recently as the pool has been closed for refurbishment so it was good to get back in for a splash

Sparkle 2 : Valentine Hearts

These beautiful crochet hearts are sold in our local haberdashery shop to raise funds for our local cottage hospital. The owner was describing to me how she hides them around her house on Valentine’s Day for her children to find with a little message. I loved this idea so did the same on Valentine’s Day for our two littles and Mr S, writing why I loved them on the paper heart. I didn’t hide them but had them on the breakfast table at the appropriate settings. The hearts went down really well and definitely a new little tradition I would like to celebrate on Valentine’s Day

Sparkle 3 : Dressing Up

For Valentine’s Day, Mr S organised a meal out for our little family. It was not simply a suggestion to go out but one he presented to me all booked and planned, with Mr S away so much at the moment it was so lovely not to have to think about planning and preparing a meal. However what makes this sparkle, is that on two opportunities this week we have enjoyed dressing up for an occasion, wearing our special clothes and spending time thinking about outfits, doing make-up and hair, wearing fancy jewellery etc. The first was our Valentines lunch and the second was going to the theatre with my parents. Day to day, I am very casual, life at the seaside is relaxed and informal, so it’s been a real treat this week to dress for an event.  I do think it’s polite to make an effort to look nice when someone is treating you to a special occasion and I’ve enjoyed dressing myself and the children smartly and stylishly. I even ensured that Little Miss and myself had a little girlie pink in our outfits for Valentines but resisted the challenge of dressing in a rainbow of colours for the theatre trip!

Sparkle 4 : Joseph

I have written a post about going to see the musical Joseph and his Amazing Technicolour Dream coat, but it was a truly brilliant show, so joyful and uplifting. It was a real highlight of the year so far and I am very grateful to my parents for the treat.

Sparkle 5 : Back to Mum and Dad’s

It is so lovely to go back home to my parents for a few days. I get to revert to daughter and simply potter around the house, the cupboards are full of my favourite foods and I get to try my Mum’s new lotions and potions. I also get loads of help with the children and generally the children are charming and very cute to their different audience. This week I managed a genuine lie in until 8am, read a whole book, escaped to the shops for a little mooch and didn’t need to cook any meals, I felt thoroughly spoilt.

Sparkle 6 : Alvin and the Chipmunks

To be honest I wasn’t expecting to have the children’s film Alvin and the Chipmunks as one of this week’s sparkles.  The trip to the cinema was a convenient thing to do whilst we waited for Mr S’ car to be serviced at the garage in the county town and the film was the children’s and definitely not my  choice, those squeaky voices!  It was the first time I’ve been to the new cinema and I loved the retro feel to it, it brought back happy memories of my time as a cinema usherette, one of my favourite jobs.  However the cinema isn’t the sparkle but the film itself for its very strong and positive messages about families and belonging.   Alvin is a little mischief and gets into lots of trouble but he is loved and cared for throughout by his Dad no matter what he does and the film ends with an adoption scene.  The children were excited to see this and talked about their meeting with the judge.  The film helped to reinforce the message we’re always giving that we are the children’s forever family and even when things get tough we will always be here for our children, forever and ever.  It was nice to see such a positive film about adoption.

And lastly

The half term is coming to close now and the routine beckons again on Monday. I hope to use the last few days just to recharge and get ready for the new half term. It’s a short one this half term and I’m looking forward to those first signs of Spring and the anticipation of longer and warmer days.

This week has been quiet and we just seem to be treading through the days, spring must be coming soon, please. Here are the sparkles for the week…

Sparkle 1 : The Lightbox Week 5

The light box comment was simple this week, with half term, pancake day and Chinese new year there is lots of fun to be had this month. I had planned on ‘Fun, frolicking February’ but didn’t have enough Fs! I am due a new order of letters and symbols this week, I love my lightbox in the kitchen injecting some light and fun!

Sparkle 2 : My new crush..

I have to admit to having a new crush, but I think it’s more a teacher infatuation as I am besotted with the astronaut Tim Peake. In my lessons we’ve been following his work at the Space Station and this week we got to watch the live link up, in the cosmic classroom project which was available to all schools. In a twenty minute session, he answered children’s questions about life in space. His broadcast was amazing and anyone I’ve spoken to who has watched it can’t stop praising and enthusing about the transmission, he was so entertaining and made space and learning so much fun for children and adults alike. I’ve watched it and Little Man and his class watched it too, his TA reported back that he sat completely mesmerised by the broadcast. He spoke so much about it at home, space ping pong, drinking bubbles etc.. I really love the education work Tim Peake is doing, he has been such a positive force for encouraging children and adults to get excited about space and want to learn more.

Sparkle 3 : Me Time at our local spa

This week I treated myself to an Indian Head Massage, for completing my detox. Of all the treatments this is my favourite, I think I get lots of stress and knots in my shoulders and the head massage helps to relieve some of the symptoms of my migraines. It was an extremely relaxing session and made me resolve to do a little treat like this more often.

Sparkle 4 : Deliciously Ella baking

I am still really focused on clean eating and following the guidelines remarkably well. Hard as it was, I never even succumbed to a crumb of the gingerbread cakes we made on Wednesday. However to satisfy my sweet tooth, I tried a Deliciously Ella recipe this week, baked orange and fruit bars which although are made of simply nuts and dried fruit are a gorgeous treat.

Sparkle 5 : Ballerina Necklace

I finally got round to choosing and ordering Little Miss’ ballet exam present and her new necklace arrived this week. Its lovely, just what I was looking for and the purple pearl matches her ballet uniform.

Sparkle 6 : Neighbours

Finally for this week, a special sparkle must go out to our neighbours who are so kind and thoughtful. Whilst Mr S is away one of my neighbours pops in to look after Little Man so I can pick up Little Miss from Brownies and he can go to bed at his normal time rather than having to come with me too. Normally it’s the same neighbour but as she was away this week another came instead, I’m so lucky to have neighbours to call on. I also received a phone call from the neighbours behind who phoned to apologise for the mess their new garden is causing with the dust from the stone cutting and offering to pay for our windows to be cleaned. We assured them that this was not necessary but it was a very kind and thoughtful gesture. A total contrast to their next door neighbours, a second home couple from London whose extension caused so much noise, inconvenience and who ignored planning permissions etc.. and never once apologised for the disruption. Such behaviour is quite typical of second home owners and does make them rather unpopular, they don’t seem to understand that you need to respect and become part of your community.

And finally ..

I’m looking forward to next week, its Chinese New Year and pancake day and early starts to half term for all of us, me from Wednesday lunchtime and the children from Thursday afternoon.  It’s time to make the final half term plans, including a visit to Grandma and Granfer’s with some special trips.