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.