August 30, 2011

BAD DAY DESERVES A GOOD SUPPER


Argh!
As much as I worship the very ground they walk on, my little darlings have almost finished me off today. To say today was pretty much the day from hell is an understatement, and it just kept going & going & going.
It started off with school shoe shopping (i should have known then it would all end in tears). Now, I  thought I was being a right smart arse getting to the shoe shop by 9am, obviously beating every other mum who has left it to the last minute to get the school shoes, but -ahem- no, not so much..... Every single child in the WORLD needed their feet measuring apparently. Today. Right here in Bath. At 9am. (Do you even know how insanely impossible it actually is to get three kids out of the house by 8:45?)
So, there we stood with the best of them in the vacuum sealed shoe shop waiting with our little ticket, like something fun was about to happen. Until finally, one of the 'expert measurers' plonked my kids on a machine that expertly measured their feet on the 'expert measurers' behalf and then proceeded to whip my kids up into a frenzy about some shoe that has a toy in the heel. A toy in the heel which actually adds £10 to the price of the shoe. So obviously they both want this heel toy concoction and were not moving until they had them. To be honest, I would have let them have the moon on a stick at that point due to little India adding to the ambience with her rendition of 'get me out of this freakin' buggy now woman' at the top of her lungs.

That joyus experience cost me £75. That's food out the window this week then.

And then it went on & today, Florence was the gift that just kept on giving. Tantrum about no sweets in the Supermarket. Tantrum about the arm off of her new shoe toy falls off. Tantrum because I wouldn't let her eat 4 yoghurts before dinner. Tantrum from Flo because..... well, it had been 5 minutes since the last one so WHY THE HELL NOT.

And, India's teething BAD and will not be put down (thanks Chris) and Dex just joined in on any old rucus that was going on. Although he did instigate a few things and called me Mrs Poohead Billimore at one point. Not funny at 5pm when it's screamed in your face, but kind of funny now after a glass of red wine.

And breath....

Actually, why am I re-living this? Am I mental (that's rhetorical thank-you very much) Do you see what these holidays have done to me, do you????

So, anyway - School is back next week and what's the betting that by day 2 I will miss them like crazy?

Madness.


August 17, 2011

SIMPLY PRETTY

I thought i'd share some snaps i've taken over the last couple of days. Nothing really marries them, apart from the fact that they are all simply nice photo's. Enjoy!

Somerset countryside


Surf dude Dexter

Flo looooves ice cream

Happy as always - India 

India & mama


August 12, 2011

MISS MISERY GUTS

Urgh. This week has pretty much sucked. Apart from a couple of nice lunch dates with family & friends, it's been pretty grim. The weather has been awful (again), the stuff on the news has been so depressing with all the mindless rioting - how upsetting to see so many of my old stomping grounds brought to their knees - and to top it all off, all 3 kiddos have the worst hacking cough. I ended up taking 16 week old Indi to see the doc as it's just so awful to see something so sweet & tiny having such a hard time - it breaks my heart. It really doesn't help that we live in one of the most polluted cities in Europe & with soooo much traffic here during the hot summer months it's no wonder we feel like we're suffocating some days (at 3am this morning I was so annoyed with Bath & it's air quality that I was surfing properties in Falmouth! Don't think a move is on the cards though).  So, for the last 3 nights, sleep has been pretty limited, and I am a total zombie. I have a perma-drip of caffine running through my veins in a vain (!) attempt to keep my eyes open, and my arms & legs working in some sort of manner. BUT - things could be worst, a lot lot worst i know so as much as I like pissing & moaning about poor little old me, i thought i'd try and turn that frown upside down (i know i know, i even hate myself for using that line) - so off I pootled to pintrest for some happy therapy (that's looking at pretty pictures to you & me). This is what I found..... enjoy!

One day i will my own Airstream. And it will look like this!

How adorable is this!! Kinda funny too...

I'd love love love to live here.

This is such a fab idea. Will start doing this i think with our kitchen black board.

I love the colours. Perfect :)

Sources: one two three four five



August 05, 2011

SEASIDE

Ahhh, summer.
Glorious sunny, warm, balmy summer.
Long lazy days, filled with the kids tearing strips off of each other children playing happily, burnt sausages beautifully marinated seafood on the BBQ & children running about gone 10pm because its too humid to sleep long relaxed evenings in the garden drinking wine watching the sunset.
Ah yes, i do love Summer.

saunton sands, Devon


The thing is though, here in old Blighty we don't actually ever get 2 months of un-interrupted sun & warmth. It's rare to have more than a couple of days at a time with the sun beating down on everyone giving us all a healthy glow & much needed Vit-D boost. So, when the sun does come out you have to get at it & be quick sharp about it too. So that's exactly what we did for the day on Wednesday - we packed enough food to feed an army, buckets, spades, hats & our sunnies & we drove down to Studland on the Dorset coast, and headed straight for Knowle Beach.


The kids LOVED it. I was amazed by how confident Dexter & Florence were in the sea considering neither of them can swim properly yet & also that Flo had an icy 'falling into the sea fully clothed' experience in Polzeath back a couple of Novembers ago!! It looked as if Dexter was making his way to the Isle of Wight at one point he was that comfortable, and Flo managed to play a game of sea golf (i don't know either).





It was one of the best days we've had so far as a family of five this summer and we're thinking of heading back there in a couple of days for more. Bliss.

August 02, 2011

RABBIT!


WOW! I have not been this excited about an album since I was about 13 or 14 and discovered 'Come on feel the Lemonheads' but I just had to shout out to whoever would listen the whole world about my new found love for this group & this album. Rabbit! and their album 'Connect the Dots' is exactly what the world and his wife have been waiting for. It's music that cheers you up, lyrics that make you giggle & blush, melodies that make you dance around your kitchen smiling - tunes that get stuck in your head which you actually don't mind LOVE being there. This album is so happy & i don't know if that's because where I am right now, or whether it's the perfect soundtrack to my summer, but whatever - it works & you have to listen to them and then you need to march your little dancing fingers straight into itunes & download the album because, honestly you'd be daft if you didn't!


I first stumbled across them when I was reading the blog Pacing the Panic Room where they provided the soundtrack to an amazingly cute maternity video can watch here (i think i have already gushed about this on twitter!)..... aaaanyway, i'm blabbing on but i totally fell in love with the song Magic, so had to get it for myself. Well, it was obviously my birthday or something as there was a whole album waiting for me on itunes, which within minutes was blasting through the speakers in my kitchen.

Everyone loves it here - India falls asleep to Ladybug, Dexy & Flo go mad for Magic (over & over!) and I can't get enough of Pea - the lyrics are as sweet as pie & make you giggle. Maybe I love this album because I can hear lots of little snippets of some of my favourite bands & songs in there. I swear can hear the harmonies The Beach Boys would be proud of, the cosy love-ness of The Magic Numbers, the clever lyrics of Evan Dando.... i don't know, this album makes me think, which is good, it means it won't get boring. This is one album that will be played in this family for a long long time & will most definitely contribute to the soundtrack of me. Hurrah!