Seaside Sparkles

Whilst last week’s #littleloves was a bumper edition summing up a few weeks this is a more stream lined version from the past five days. However as it was the school Easter holidays there was plenty going on.  This week was a week of mini adventures in more off beaten tracks, too many tourists in the popular haunts this week.  Our week has included trampolining lessons, a long scooter ride, exploring a nature trail, climbing to the top of a castle, walking along a river and meeting friends for play dates.  We also had more mundane activities like buying summer school uniform but its amazing the promise of having a £1 to spend in the Poundshop can help to make a successful shopping trip!

I read Schtum by Jem Lester following a Kindle recommendation as ‘ a funny and uplifting story of family and love.’  I thought it was a well written and moving story.  As with another recent read it was about a son with severe autism and the effect on the family, although there were other sub-stories too and it made for an emotional read.  There is a fantastic chapter ‘voiced’ by the son at a tribunal and I hope to be able to use this professionally in staff training sessions.  It is a book to make you thankful for your family and a reminder to listen to and to understand each other.

When Mr S is away with work as he was this week, I don’t often switch the television on, I prefer to read, to surf the web or simply potter whilst listening to music in the evenings.  When he has been home this week he has had the snooker on, of all the sports I find snooker sooooo boring so have buried myself in my reading as a distraction.

I have been creative in the kitchen this week, with no work I have had a little more time to experiment.  I’ve been reading around healthier alternatives to common foods and have tried a few new ingredients, almond butter, Algarve syrup etc.. and replenished lots of my herbs and spices.  Two favourite recipes this week were a chick pea and cauliflower curry and ginger flapjacks.  I’ve also made a few picnics to enjoy on our trips out.

One day this week, we needed to be out for the whole day to accommodate some work on our house.  This led to a bit of a magical, mystery trip around our county with various stops which included a brief pause for me in a small town to check their new White Stuff shop which was holding an opening event.  I bought this blouse and love it, its a great fit, that print is just amazing and I got a opening discount, win, win, win. It looked great with my jeans and is the sort of blouse which will look with a bright coloured shorts or trousers in the warmer days.

http://www.whitestuff.com/womens/shirts-blouses/chalk-white-print-faces-shirt/

I read about the #30daymusic challenge and started typing up my daily choices this week  https://seasidesparkles.net/2017/04/18/the-30-day-music-challenge/ This has led to lots of research on Spotify and You Tube and really enjoying some brilliant songs.

This Easter holiday seems to be going on forever, the children have Inset on Monday and then its finally back to routines on Tuesday for us all.  When the children are at school and I am doing my part time hours, I do manage a few more hours to myself, sometimes the holidays can feel a little overwhelming as my children find it difficult to occupy themselves and I need a list of ideas to keep us all calm and happy. I hope you have all enjoyed the holidays.

Thank you to Morgana at www.coffeeworksleeprepeat.com for hosting #littleloves and her lovely writers who inspire with their choices.

I’m afraid I’ve neglected my blog for a few weeks, its been such a busy time and I’ve been embracing the fun.  Following a quiet few months, April has sprung into life,  the weather has been stunning and so much has been happening.  We’ve hosted family for Granddad’s birthday celebrations, participated in Easter bonnet parades, watched and performed in talent shows, been on a family holiday to Butlins and finally celebrated Easter, not bad for the first 17 days of April.  Thankfully we’ve a few quieter days now until we go back to school a week today.

The View from Grandad’s Birthday Lunch

Bultlins, our family’s happy place

Easter decorations chez Sparkles

I’m an Amazon Prime subscriber and each month we get a free Kindle book, this month I chose After You Left by Carol Mason.  Its the story of a woman whose husband walks out of the marriage after 3 days and her friendship with an older woman who helps her to recover.  Whilst I’m not sure I would strongly recommend it, it was an easy and pleasant read, the perfect book to dip into as you watched the children doing their different activities at Butlins.  Ooh I’ve been busy this month so far.  I’ve watched a Brownie talent show which was refreshingly good with  impressions, the T-Rex was brilliant, ACDC tribute, the top 10 Man City players, the alphabet recited backwards etc.. Little Miss was due to do a duet with her friend but she was sick on the day and she ended up wowing us all with a solo, I was very proud.  I’ve also watched the primary school’s Easter bonnet parade.  This is a very big deal in the school, a tradition that goes back for more than a century (the school is still in the original building!) and it is one of the highlights of the school year.  The bonnets were lovely and it is just so sweet how the children walk up and down a cat walk to show their hats to the appreciative audience.

At Butlins, I got to watch three new Skyline Gang shows, Little man adores the Skyline Gang so we made sure that we were in the pavilion for each performance.  I also got to watch the children trying out new sports and activities at Butlins, whilst I joined in with rounders and cricket, I watched the fencing.  The instructor was an old acquaintance, my family are always amazed how I can go somewhere and know someone!

Yes, this is the first picture I’ve ever published online of my children, but I think they are suitably disguised not to be recognisable.  I have made an Easter egg hunt for the children, it was a mix of activities and chocolate and for the first time in a couple of years the weather allowed us to do the hunt in the garden! I also made an Easter lunch which was delicious.  More of both of these activities in my (still to be written) Easter post.

The sunshine has definitely brought out the colour in my wardrobe.  Yellow seems to be my go to colour, I have a lovely yellow broderie top and a Lazy Jacks sweatshirt, perfect with jeans or cropped trousers.  Before we had the fun of Butlins, I had Little Man’s Annual Review on the last day of term, he has an EHCP and a full time 1:1 TA with him in the classroom to support him.  We are so proud of what he has achieved, when we were asked to consider adopting him, his future was uncertain, he was a one year old who was unable to crawl and there were many questions on his future development and possible diagnoses.  Now after years of physiotherapy, speech therapy etc.. his future looks positive and he is the most easy going and happy boy, his support is to help his learning. The Annual Review was a really positive meeting, he makes so much progress and we really couldn’t be prouder of him.

At Butlins, I heard lots of laughter and screams at the funfair and Splashworld and of course the Skyline Gang’s songs have catchy tunes which you find yourself humming along!  So the Easter celebrations are over now.  I’m hoping for a quieter few days of holiday visiting local places.  It is very busy here at present, we’re a popular destination for Easter breaks, so we’re heading off to some of the quieter places off the tourist trail.  I have booked some activities at our local sports centre to enjoy.  There are also a few play dates organised to keep us busy.  Mr S is working away this week so I need to be out and about to keep myself sane.

Thank you to Morgana for hosting the linky at http://coffeeworksleeprepeat.com/

So this was the week in which it showed how quickly finely tuned plans can become an unmanageable mess with just one small change to routines.  The change was that I was sick and having 2 days in which I was unable to do much had an impact to our week.  On Monday, not only was Mr S away on business, I was sick, Little Man had a bad chest infection and was off school and then I got a call to pick up Little Miss who was complaining of being ill too (she wasn’t and that was definitely a skive) I’m afraid the day turned into a movie and duvet day.  I am too conscientious for my own good and rather than take a day off sick on Monday, when I normally work a morning, I made up my hours later in the week.  That was madness as by the end of the week we had taken the radical action of putting our house up for sale and putting an offer on what could be a dream house, in context on Monday we had no notions of moving! Needless to say it s not been a week of much relaxing but lets try and show a few #littleloves.

I have read the house particulars of one little house this week many times although I am scared to get too excited.  I also read my beautiful Mothers’ day cards and the lovely acrostic mother created by Little Miss.

Whilst Monday turned into Movie day I was too poorly to watch any properly.  The only notable programme was Prime Suspect 1973, the story is pretty predictable but I love the attention to details in props and costumes.

It was play date time this week and again I did the pick’n’mix baked potatoes (different friends so I got away with it again!) I created more fillings so the table looked a bit like the salad cart at a Harvester but the children loved it and all ate a good tea.

I’ve been needing a new pair of trainers for ages but wanted to wait until I was outside running rather than choosing a pair for the gym.  My new running shoes are so comfortable and supportive and made me realise how worn my old pair were, I’ll need to keep a note of the miles run to ensure that I keep my feet healthy in supportive trainers.

I have heard so many excited girls this week, the giggles have echoed around the house.  We had 2 little friends on Wednesday talking make up and boys and then Little Miss and her friends have been getting so excited about this weekend’s Brownie trip to Legoland where 5000 brownies are taking over the park!  I also played a Hot Hits playlist at tea on Wednesday night, my desperate attempt to look hip to the youngsters!

Whilst we have many things to do now for the possible house sale, I have a weekend of family.  My Father in law has arrived and my sister in law and husband will be joining us tomorrow.  Fortunately we have a lovely lunch out booked so not too much extra for me to do.  Then its time for the last week of term and Easter bonnet parades to prepare for.

A little cheat this week as by writing my post on Saturday I get to add Red Nose day news which this week has been building up to.   Its been a busy week, ballet viewing, parents evening, a new car, RND (another dress up day at school 🙂 ) and the normal comings and goings of a family week.  It was also a week when terrorism struck London again and the sadness and frustration which accompanies such an attack reminds you of the important things in life.

I finished Bee Wilson’s This is Not a Diet Book.  I have it on Kindle and imagine its quite a short paperback, but so worth the read about our attitudes to food, children’s diets etc.. All excellent counsel on a very important subject presented in a common sense approach.

 On  Monday, I got to see Little Miss dance at her ballet viewing class.  It was lovely to watch and a relaxing hour of dance.  She has now been dancing for 5 years and her grace and poise is beautiful. I never got to have any dance lessons when I was a child and by encouraging her to ballet I hoped that she would not be as clumsy or awkward as I am. She’s not and has discovered a passion and delight in dance which is a pleasure to watch.

On Friday I watched #rednosedayactually. Love Actually is one of my favourite films, so the catch up on the characters was just perfect and the storylines seemed to match their original characters, I like happy endings.  It was definitely the highlight of Red Nose Day and the speech Hugh Grant gave as PM about the good in people was incredibly moving in the light of the terrorist attack this week . I may have whooped at the cards, engagement and children and shed a little tear for the speech and absent friends…

Mmm I’m really stuck on this category, the most creative activity at work was when I made some red nose animations to introduce a competition we held for RND.  My current work is very office based and formal and I rarely work directly with the children so it was fun to design the competition and then introduce the task to them with my work.  My favourite little animation was Disco Dom, he was such a dude to design.

I wore a red nose on Friday but not the foam nose which I had bought as this was taken by Little Man who wanted an extra one to complete the class’ collection of the 10 red noses.  I had a pin badge and considering I am often plugged into headphones on my runs, it seemed quite apt.

With an 80s 24 hour dance a thon on Radio 2 on Monday, I heard a lot of 80s tunes and loved being taken back in time to my childhood.  Whilst loving the music, I was unimpressed with some of the DJs knowledge of the 80s, Jeremy Vine took some convincing that Gorbachev wasn’t the USSR president in 1984.

Whilst its Mothers’ day tomorrow I don’t think we’ll be able to do our original plan of going out for a family day.  Little Man suffers with chest infections and has been coughing badly today so I think a day resting and being warm indoors is in order.  For years I’ve been trying to visit the ornamental gardens in a neighbouring town and been thwarted each time.  However, I am looking forward to opening the envelopes which came home from school on Friday, nothing beats a homemade card and sharing cuddles with my two little ones.

I am linking up with Morgana at http://www.coffeeworksleeprepeat.com for Little Loves

Its been a nice little week, to quote the wonderful Call the Midwife on Sunday, a week when its been easy to ‘find joy in the simple things’  The week started with a quiet weekend at home, Saturday was spent doing cricket practice followed by a trip to the Lego shop to spend the carefully saved pocket money.  On Sunday we did a walk in a nearby picture perfect village (although no photos as its v easy to identify)  and relaxed with a coffee and a lemon cake in a lovely little tea shop.  Such a weekend definitely helps to smoothe in the coming week.  I like a nice mix of fiction and non fiction and this week I’ve been dipping into some of the non fiction titles on my Kindle.  I enjoy the food writing of Bee Wilson so have been reading some of her book ‘This is not a diet book’  It is simple, good advice, focusing an good quality fresh food and it has inspired me to choose some new recipes, really focusing on flavours.

It was the concluding episodes of two favourite series this week, Call the Midwife and The Replacement.  It was a lovely ending to Call the Midwife, perfect Sunday evening television.  I really enjoyed the Replacement until the last 10 minutes or so, when what had been a great psychological thriller turned into some sort of action movie, a bit out of place with the rest of the programme.  However there was some great acting by the lead actors and it was a drama that did have you engrossed.

On Sunday afternoon, Little Miss and I decided to do something creative.  I joined Jennie Maizel’s Sketchbook club a few years ago and loved how simple she made her projects so I signed up to Sketchbook 2 and started with the owls project.  Little Miss really concentrated on our project,  carefully watching the video and then following the instructions.  It was a really calming and mindful session.

As you can spot I’ve also made a few headers for this post!

I have worn my new Converse pumps this week in a metallic rose gold colour.  I make no apologies they are mum uniform but I love them, they go with so many of my clothes and lifestyle and made me happy, I may have had a little skip as I walked along in my new pumps.

I’ve listened properly to Ed Sheeran’s Divide album (do we still call it that when its a download?)  I like to listen to a new album a few times to get the feel and I’m really impressed.  I think my favourite track is Perfect.

The weekend is here and I think its time for a little girlie shopping trip tomorrow for a few spring clothes ahead of our Easter holiday,  3 weeks and counting!

Thank you to Morgana at http://www.coffeeworksleeprepeat.com for hosting this linkie and all her lovely contributors.

Life is pretty good at the moment.  Its a period of simple pleasures and relaxed times.  Some weeks it seems that my diary is bursting and my days are measured to the minute. However the demands on me are much more achievable at present and I don’t feel that every second of my time is taken. This has meant that over the last few weeks I have had more time to myself and have used it to look after me, with running, swimming and good nutrition all of which are making me feel pretty sparkly.  We’ve also had more time as a family, we discovered Lazerquest on Sunday which the children loved and then were able to have a lovely lunch in a stunning Italian café and patisserie.  The good times are rolling…

READ

Upon recommendation I started reading ‘The Life Changing Magic Art of Not Giving a F*** ‘  Unfortunately, I just didn’t like it, I persevered with it for about a third of the book but it wasn’t inspiring or interesting me, so I removed it from my Kindle.  Its very unlike me not to finish a book but I have lots of other titles waiting to be read and want to enjoy my reading, I suppose I learnt that I already know how not to give a f***!

WATCHED

Mr S and I always try and sit down together at 9pm to relax, whether it be me reading whilst he watches sport or watching a programme together.  We both enjoyed the new drama, The Replacement on BBC 1 on Tuesday evening about a maternity cover post with the replacement taking over a little too much of her cover’s life.  We don’t often agree about our choices but we’re both looking forward to the next two episodes.

I also watched Diana : Designing a Princess, a programme to accompany the fashion exhibition of her dresses at Kensington Palace.  It was really interesting to see how her clothes reflected the periods of her life.  It’s well worth a look on BBC iPlayer. 

MADE

I think this week its just the one important make, pancakes.  I love the tradition and fun of pancake night and its one of those photos we have from every year with the children in the early days eating pancakes in their high chairs and now having a go at flipping them.  For me its always lemon and sugar as my topping.

WORE

I’ve had a really good week exercising, 3 outdoor runs and 2 swims so my wear this week must be my exercise clothes, a practical Speedo costume for swimming and capris, running top and sweatshirt for the runs.

HEARD

The new Stevie Wonder song Faith is my favourite dancing around the kitchen tune of the moment.  Its also on the Sing soundtrack so is a firm family favourite, we play the Sing and Trolls soundtracks a lot in my car.

AND FINALLY

Its a busy Saturday this weekend, sports practices and parties but we’re looking forward to a family day on Sunday.  We’ve discovered the indoor skate park and Lazerquest in recent weeks which have wowed the children so I quite like the challenge of finding another new activity.  Hope you all have a lovely weekend and enjoy new adventures.

I’m linking up with Morgana at http://www.coffeeworksleeprepeat.com for this week’s Little Loves.

Yay its Friday and its been a quiet and happy week at the Sparkles house.  I like weeks like these simply pottering around and going about our daily routines contentedly.  In between Storm Doris there have been some lovely sunny days and the promise of spring, this has inspired me to do more exercise, I’ve enjoyed the first trial runs of the year and swimming in our local pool where the sun streams through the glass roof and windows and coupled with the sea views makes you believe you could be somewhere more exotic.

READ

As well as continuing to enjoy Helen Pearson’s The Life Project,  as detailed in last week’s #littleloves, I have also been reading some cookbooks for a new baking project.  I have been looking for inspiration in the M&S cake catalogue and this bargain book on children’s cakes which I found in WHSmith reduced to £3, its fantastic.

WATCHED

We finally watched Moorside this week.  Sheridan Smith is a wonderful actor and I was blown away again by her performance.  Its a harrowing story but I didn’t hate the mother as I thought I would, I saw a very vulnerable woman with a complex history probably including learning difficulties.  I hope that her daughter and other children are safe and secure in loving homes now with all the support they need for happy adult lives.

MADE

I am on a bit of a healthy regime this week so have made lots of delicious salads, wholesome soups and nourishing mains.

WORE

I was inspired by a lovely article by Not A Frumpy Mum on her working wardrobe http://notafrumpymum.com/fashion/back-to-work-style-a-teachers-capsule-wardrobe/

This week I have made an effort to be more stylish at work and been a little more creative with my choices.  I’ve tried to avoid my normal staples and have experimented with different combinations, digging out some items I don’t normally wear and matching them up with recent purchases.   Its surprising how a slight change of look can make you feel more sparkly.

HEARD

On the way home from school tonight, Little Miss told me an amusing but slightly unbelievable story about a family of deer who ran onto the school field whilst they were having their PE lesson. We laughed at the story and tried to fit in all the deer jokes and word play we could, making for a funny walk home. When I got home, I received a phone call from the teacher to reassure parents about what had taken place and his account did roughly match Little Miss’ tale.  I think its one of those stories which may go down in folklore, the day the deer joined in PE.

AND FINALLY

We have a quiet weekend planned.  I’ve done lots of jobs this week so I don’t have a long to do list, just time to potter and hopefully be outside as much as possible.

I’m linking up with Morgana at http://www.coffeeworksleeprepeat.com and her delightful #littleloves contributors who provide so much inspiration and ideas in their posts.