Childhood Memories

With Christmas now over, I have been reflecting on my own childhood, if I’m honest as a child it was all about Santa and the presents that we would receive on Christmas day, however as I’ve grown older, became a Christian and had my own children, I see Christmas very differently. 

 

Christmas to me now means reflecting on the birth of Jesus and how this important event changes peoples lives. Don’t get me wrong I still enjoy receiving gifts, but I much prefer to be able to give gifts to other people, seeing their faces light up when they open your presents, to me there is no better present than this.

Finding gifts for my girls can be a struggle as there is nothing they need, so we end up buying things they would like instead. This year has been made a bit easier as we have decided to take the girls to Disneyland in Paris, but shhh as they have absolutely no idea at all. I’m not 100% sure when we will tell them but part of me wants to keep it a secret and let them just arrive at Disneyland! 

In previous years we have struggled to buy things for Lottie, we have the same problem with her birthday too, Ruby is 3 years older than Lottie and both are born in July so we end up wrapping up some of Rubys old toys for Lottie. I do wonder if my mum used to do the same for my younger sister?

However I don’t think it’s a bad thing to pass things down families, Lottie has some of Rubys outgrown clothes however Lottie is much more girly so I do end up spending a small fortune on dresses and sparkly shoes for her. I even remember my mum giving me a box of knitted baby cardigans my Nana had made for me, so when my girls were born they wore them too.

I particularly love wooden toys, they are timeless and so robust. I have collection of toys that my girls have outgrown, that I will be keeping safe in case my girls have their own children. 

I am pleasantly surprised how these wooden toys seem to be making a comeback. The girls and I were in the toy isle at Asda and were amazed at the range of wooden toys, from shops, pull along toys, to dolls houses. Every little girl needs a dolls house right? My daughters have my younger sisters dolls house and it gets played with on a daily basis. If you don't have an Asda near to you then you can go online and view their range of wooden toys here.

I’d love to know what heirlooms you are passing down your family? I have a teddy that I loved so much that I gave to Ruby and it now takes pride of place on her bed amongst her own soft toys.



Disclaimer: ASDA kindly asked me to write a post about heirlooms and in return offered my daughters a Christmas gift.

New Chapters and New Starts

I would like to apologise for the lack of blog posts recently; it's mainly due to new chapters in our family life. I am still trying to get my head around it all and September was the start of change.

Ruby returned to school and is now in year 2, it only seems like a few weeks ago that she was tiny. Ruby in general likes school and seems happy; homework on the other hand is a different story. If you are a regular reader you will already be aware of the homework battles we face. My opinions have not changed, I dislike it and really don't agree with it. I see Ruby at the end of a school day looking exhausted and really feel for her as I try to encourage her to complete the silly amount of homework which she is set. Ruby often ends up in tears as reading and writing are not Ruby's favourite past times, if it was story telling or drama then it would be a very different situation.

Lottie turned 3 in the summer holidays and is now attending play school 3 full days a week! It is very clear that she loves it as every day she asks if it is a playschool day! Lottie has a very different character to Ruby and is much more girlie, this becomes a problem in the mornings as she likes to pick out her own clothing. Lottie's Peppa Pig obsession continues to grow, whereas by the age of 3 Ruby was beginning to go off Peppa. I think I'm going to feel somewhat sad when Lottie leaves behind the Peppa pig stage.

Now an update on me, I will put my hands up and admit I've found it hard being at home on my own. I miss having my little friend Lottie to keep me company and I miss the summer holiday fun I had with both girls.

Over the last month I have been trying to work out how to best utilise my days without Lottie as I really want to feel a sense of achievement. I am the church warden at my local church and I plan on using some of my time to help with the administration and other such things. I also want to have some 'me time' , after years of looking after my girls full time. I experienced reflexology for the very 1st time the other week and it took most of the session for me to relax, it's really isn't something that comes naturally to me. Does anyone have any tips? I have also just enrolled on a theology course at night school, I'm incredibly nervous but looking forward to the challenge of undertaking some studying, so what this space. And again I'm sorry again for the infrequent updates.

Silent Sunday!

Silent Sunday!