Seaside Sparkles

I’m not sure what has happened to my blogging recently as I’m struggling to write posts, not from lack of inspiration but a real lack of time.  Time is such a precious commodity and I try to be very organised but an early Easter has caught us out.  I know both at my work and at the children’s school that what should be a lazy last week full of Easter celebrations has been something different this year as we try and fit in all the pre Easter jobs normally spread over a few more weeks.  At the children’s school this week I have had parent teacher consultations, a phonics testing meeting and an annual review in addition to the Easter parade too.  It feels like I’ve spent more time at this school this week than my own!  If you fit in all the after school clubs with their viewing classes too it’s not surprising I’m feeling rather frazzled.  I love Easter and have missed the preparation and anticipation of the celebration this year, it just arrived rather suddenly.

Sparkle 1 : Easter Bonnets

Our sparkles are mainly seasonal this week and start with the annual Easter parade.  This takes place at the children’s school and is a tradition which dates back through the history of the school, which is nearly 120 years old.  It is a big thing and also one of my favourite things of the school year, cute beyond description.  This year we kept the bonnets simple, Little Miss wanted a pretty and traditional bonnet whilst as in previous years Little Man wanted to include something personal, he chose Minions and we used some of his Kinder Egg Minion toys which were just the right height as Easter chicks, it was a great effect together.  There were some stunning bonnets, I loved a huge fried egg made from some kind of builders foam, a beautiful blossom fascinator and a crochet rabbit.    Such traditions should be continued and valued, they are the little things which make life sparkle.

Sparkle 2 : Easter Preparations

Another seasonal sparkle is getting the house decorated for Easter. I will do a post on this as this is me in my element, but in the meantime here is a selection of my decorations, there are more!

Sparkle 3 : Hot Cross Buns

The final Easter sparkle is hot cross buns on Good Friday and more traditions.  As a child I always remember going out with my Dad to buy hot cross buns from a local bakery on Good Friday morning.  This year Little Miss and Mr S went out to do this at our local bakery whose buns are perfect, nothing beats opening a white paper bag and the sensory delights of fresh hot cross buns.

Sparkle 4 : Matt Haig’s Reasons to Stay Alive

Surprisingly there has been time for other sparkles too.  I finished Matt Haig’s Reasons to Stay Alive and it is a book which will stay with me for a long time, it is excellent.  I started it before the sad events which have affected our community in the past few weeks but it has made me much more aware and compassionate about depression.  The words in the book are so simple and thoughtful, I folded so many pages over, definitely a book to share and recommend.

Sparkle 5 : Little Miss’ First Run

I have been delighted that Little Miss has been asking if she can come running with me. I love running and all the benefits it offers me and would love her to feel the same about it too.  She has been so keen that I agreed that we would go out after one of my long runs and do a short, flat run.  When I arrived home from my run at 8am there she was in the garden, kitted up and raring to go so we did our first run together which was lovely, she just had one stitch but ran well and strongly.  We’ve got our next run organised and are hoping to do a Junior Park Run when we’ve trained for the 2km distance.   She drew this picture on our return (I am taller than her in real life) and here’s hoping that she will develop a love of running.

I’m looking forward to the Easter weekend, a lovely long weekend with the Sparkles family and one in which I get to plan our Easter holiday mini adventures, this is a lovely long holiday with lots of days out to explore.

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.