What she wore…#thetoddlerdiaries

Its getting towards that time of year when whether we like it or not we have to start to think about christmas! I know it seems so far away but you know as well as i do that it will come flying towards us as it always does every year!

In the city i live in there is a strong tradition of getting ‘dressed up’ for the christmas season. Im not just talking about the grown ups! The kids love to get in on the action to and it is common for each kid in a family to get a new outfit for christmas as well as new pyjamas. Part of the tradition of christmas for so many families. We do try and get them all something special for their birthdays and for christmas. In a family as big as ours there isnt loads of available spends on ‘party’ clothes or ‘smart clothes.’ and so on those two occasions in the year we do try and go to town a little.

I generally try and have a think about this before we hit christmas time because with five kids to buy for it can take a bit of thought. Especially with my youngest who has the fiercest opinions on what she will wear. Even before she turned three as she has recently. The fight over what to get her to wear in the morning can range from a surprising and welcome acceptance of our suggested outfit or a full on tantrum and ensuing hiatus as she refuses everything suggested.

She is very girlie and likes everything pink. I have no idea how this has happened because i wouldn’t say we are an overly pink household despite having so many girls. But she loves the girlie, sweet and swooshy dresses and thats pretty much where we are right now. Last year she would only wear olympic t shirts and leggings and that was it. So in way its progress…sort of 😉

For their christmas time outfits i really like to buy a decent quality outfit that i know they will got lots of use from. Sometimes there is a reason that those cheap t shirts are so cheap and you can sometimes easily spend as much on a couple of tops that have to be often replaced…as you would on one quality bit of clothing that initially costs a bit more but lasts that bit longer.

So this year, i am scouring the net for ideas for my super- duper fussy toddler and coming across cute little girlie outfits such as these is giving me a bit of hope that she will be able to wear something gorgeous on the big day!

Here’s hoping!

 

 

 

 

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Finding a new flow #motivationalmonday #whatsthestory #magicmoments

I was flicking through some images this evening and i came across this one which i took on one summery afternoon before the school run in the garden and i realised how different the afternoons are around here, not just because of the weather although that is a massive contributing factor. But i moan far too much about the weather so i wont go on…

But because not having my second youngest around in the afternoon is a little strange and taking me and the little one a bit of time to find a new way of doing the lunch, pre-school time and also how to do the ‘lets not fall asleep on the way to school in the buggy and be a nightmare going to bed in the evening’ thing 😉

and i realised that i miss her a bit. That sounds really bad, like im surprised that i do, which isnt the case at all.

But i am not a mum who laments when my kids move onto new adventures. Yes there is an element of sadness when you put the baby cot away for the last time, or you realise that the ‘baby aisle’ in the supermarket really holds nothing for you anymore save maybe the trusty packet of wipes.  There is most assuredly a time for fond memories and that whistfull and slightly rose coloured jaunt down the memory lane of new babies and pre-school years when your consciousness fools you and plays a heart-stirring soundtrack over your parenting past and tells you that it was ‘all so wonderful back then’ 😉

But I embrace the future, new adventures, new challenges, new lessons to learn and so im always cheering them on as they head off into new things.

With this little girl, she was so totally ready for school that she didnt need the cheerleader waving madly behind her telling her she was going to be great.

She just got on. did it. Embraced it.

thats my girl 🙂

 

Motivational Monday

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Center Parcs Family Bloggers club entry. #centerparcs

We are really excited to be entering the Center Parcs Family blogger competition. 🙂

Their challenge was to produce a short video of a family activity that we all enjoy. We asked the kids what they thought and it was fairly unanimous.

We are a pretty active family and will always strive to spend some time outside.

One way that the kids love spending time together is on their bikes, or scooters, roller-skates or any other form of wheels!! I have a bunch of kids who like to go FAST!!

Which i sure comes from their adrenaline junkie daddy!

Whether its going on a zip line (built by daddy!) or exploring the beach or heading up into the mountains our kids are pretty game for having a go!

So what to do for a video entry.

We handed over the direction to the kids! Most of the ideas in the little movie are theirs and we just helped them to implement them.

The little pop up bubbles are their own words when i asked them what they liked about their favourite wheeled activities!

Hope you enjoy 🙂

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A bit of a big kid #countrykids

Can’t resist going back to our holiday photos. I know it was a while ago but because i have been so slack at blogging lately there are still loads of cool things we got up to on our jolly that i have yet to post to the blog. So here we go again.

The title of this post is a bit misleading i suppose. I don’t actually mean it. Im referring to my OH who, when we were rock pooling and kite flying discovered some other things to get up to. Which, to be honest, is not a surprise at all. Not long after I met my husband I got a phone call telling me that he had, had a fall from a climb on a sea cliff in Devon. He isnt just ‘having a go’ at climbing. He is a climber and it, sometimes properly freaks me out as the height that they go is scary and also the small bits of ‘gear’ that is preventing them from plummeting to the ground gives me a coronary.

But one thing i do know and can be assured of is that if there is a bit of craggy old rock on a walk or somewhere near where we are…this will happen…

and I wonder why i am tearing my hair out with these bunch of lunatic, adrenaline junky kids i have on my hands? hmmmm. 😉

Certainly our youngest has got a fair size smack of her Daddy’s climbing gene. She has done it since she could walk. I was looking through some images the other day and i came across this one, which is her climbing a stool that is UNDER a bench!

One thing that does happen when my OH goes on a bit of a climb is that the whole bunch of kids are compelled to follow him and then I have on my hands a bunch of over enthusiastic mountain goats climbing any which way to get up to the top of the rock. It can get pretty scary! Even the littlest is given a bit of encouragement to have a go! 😉  excuse the nudity in this shot! 🙂

After a bit of climbing and a lot of grey hair grown by me. We all scrambled to the top of the rock and then there was some time for admiring the view, the odd shoulder carry and watching the kites again. One of our favourite things to do we found.

Family Farm Holidays Cornwall

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