Bedtime Routine

Bedtime routine

Let's talk bedtime, that time from 6.30pm-8pm at night that has parents on the countdown to the cup of tea in peace.
From the chime of the 'In the Night Garden' theme tune lights are lowered, baths are run, jammies and comforters layed out.
The bedtime routine is a fine art and once you've nailed it it can be traumatic to consider anything that would disrupt it.  Think of the fear that builds every year on the run up to the clocks changing!!! 

After a volatile relationship with sleep Joel now loves his bed. At times he requests 'You lie down beside me mummy?' But this is often shortly followed my his sleepy muffled voice saying 'Go away from my bed, get out!'
So I expect you all now want a glimpse of our magic bedtime routine? 

6.30  - Prepare him that bedtime is approaching. Turn off big light in favour of softer lighting, warn Joel toys are to be tidied up soon. 

6.40-7pm - Bedtime tv or bath time depending on days snot levels/amount of dinner stuck in hair.
'Nooooo hairdryerrrrrrrr' meltdown optional.

7pm - Pyjamas and daily asthma medicine obstacle course including world champion hiding naked under table marathon. 

7.10 - 5 minute bedtime warning

7.11 - Unreasonable demands -
'My want cup of tea biscuit!!'
'My sandwich'
'Just ONE playtime'

7.15 - Dummy bribery.  

7.20 -  Hugs and kisses and story and chat about the day
Eg, 'You were a great boy at helping mummy today, I was so happy when you got nappies and wipes for mummy when Nuala needed her nappy changed.' 
'BUT mummy did not like it when you did a wee in the middle of your Octopus Socktopus book and tried to hid it under a mountain of other books. Let's make sure 'wee wees' go in the potty tomorrow ok?' 

7.30 - Hardcore negotiation 
'One more story'
'More kisses'
'You lie beside me'
'More hugs' followed by physical restraint.
'ITS MORNING TIME'

7.40 - Pointless discussion about difference between morning time and night time. 

7.45 - Final 'night night' and kisses and go downstairs. 

7.50 - Mummy my drink!!! 

7.55 - A monster

8.00 - Noise of toys being tipped from toy shelf
Go to his room using 'I mean business' footsteps while I hear the shriek of excitement and the doofdoofdoof of him running and hiding under his bed.

8.05 - FINAL night night and kisses. 




Get the kettle on. 

What's your night time routine? 

The Journey from Cot to Bed

I'm often puzzled by episodes of the video clip show 'You've Been Framed' which often has a segment of clips showing exhausted toddlers and babies asleep in ridiculous places.  A heart warming reel of babies face first in their chicken nuggets or propped up on a family pet or snoozing on the potty.  This is not an occurrence in our household.  Joel only sleeps in bed or at times falls asleep in his car seat during a journey.  Even on long days, exhausted by a full activity rota at day nursery, after a walk home in bad weather Joel wouldn't close his eyes until tucked up in bed.  Albeit after a stormy overtired dinnertime, him covered in food, snot and tears and I, camera poised, disappointed yet again that there was no heartwarming moment worth £250 to capture.  Joel is partial however, now and again, on insisting on falling asleep on your face.  This usually happens when he is sick and at his snottiest.

When I found out we were expecting Nuala back in spring of 2015 our delight was succeeded by mild panic about the impact this would have on our golden boy.  Just over 2 years old Joel was still a baby in our eyes but already my mind was racing towards getting him out of a cot and into a bed, getting him potty trained and getting rid of dummies all in preparation for the arrival of the new baby. 

I didn't want Joel to feel like the new baby would be arriving and stealing his cot, making him sleep in a bed and so I felt it was important that we make the cot to bed transition as soon as possible. 

I  then began worrying that taking him from his cot would somehow traumatise him, that he would feel uprooted and insecure. 
While debating the perfect time to begin this delicate process and considering what emotional impact it would have on him Joel learned to swing his leg over the side of the cot and so that was it, the time was now!!! 

Joel was not a peaceful sleeper, rather he would flail about in all shapes throughout the night, a trait I put down to the fact he was such and active toddler. So I was worried that without the security of the cot bars Joel would flip right off the side of the bed and cause himself and injury.

So my husband and his mate Google came up with a solution. Montissori bed, also know as 'mattress on the floor' 

Image from Google images showing mattress on floor Montessori Bed

See how glamorous Google can make things look?

No longer at risk of climbing out of cot and injuring himself but also no risk of him rolling out of bed while her gets used to the absence of cot bars. Taadaa! 
Joel, totally unphased by the changes happily hoped in his new 'bed' and went to sleep. Dead easy! 

And so mattress on the floor became the norm, and during a period of time of getting work done to the house he moved his mattress on the floor into our room and slept happily there too! 
When the workmen left he hopped right back into his own room again. No worries. 
While the work was being done to his room we striped off his old blinds and chucked them in the bin, only realising when he was going to bed on his first night back in the room that we had nothing to cover the window! Cue a bit of hokery pokery with a bin bag and some celotape and window was sorted and Joel was fast asleep.

Mattress on floor, binbag and towel window dressing.

It's amazing how quickly one adapts to window Binliner and floor mattress as the norm. This state of affairs continued for about 2 months.  However reading the horrified look on my co workers faces one day when describing his room spurred me into the next stage of bed progression.....mattress on bed base!!! As well as lovely new blind put up by father in law (put the phone down, no need to ring social services!!!)

Joel and daddy built the bed base together and after his first night in his new big boy bed I was left wondering what all the fuss was about. I don't think Joel needed all that fuss with the transition, perhaps we did? 

The best thing about this transition is the bit of freedom it gives him in the morning time.  With a stair gate secured to him bedroom door he can hop out of bed and play with his toys and books when he wakes in the morning before deciding to give the morning wake up call.

Joel has fallen out of bed once ever. But we put him back into bed, gave him and kiss and he was happily asleep again. 
Another time I've found him sleeping  on the floor but I suspect this was due to a secret midnight play mission rather than falling out if the bed! 

How he hasn't fallen out of bed more often is a mystery!!!

So, what do you think?  Is mattress on the floor a waste of time?

Leave Me Alone!

So I'm due to have my second baby in the next week or so. 

It's a lovely time. I've finished up work. We have had a year of disruption with repair work being required on our home and ongoing disputes with electric company as to their responsibility to cover the cost of repair work. The repair work has finally been completed. The work men and their dusty boots have left the building and after an unsettled period of strangers in the house and being shipped out of the house like like the roaming lost its lovely to have the house back to ourselves. 
Joel has the last few weeks in his daycare place and I'm loving the time to potter about the house and have been binge watching The West Wing.  
4 days a week I have Joel to myself and I'm loving enjoying the dwindling time together in the calm before the colicky storm. 
It's lovely to have this time, waiting and appreciating, but you know what's ruining it? 
You. 
You, the general public are ruining my lovely blissful time. 

'You still here?'
Yes I am still HERE.
 In fact I'm not even at my due date yet so I can still be HERE all I like.  
Stop making me feel like I should be in labour. 

Many of you have children and know that it happens in its own good time and I'll cross that painful bridge when it arrives, but until then I will be HERE all I like. 

'Have you tried.....'
Raspberry leaf tea? Pineapple? Bouncing on the birthing ball? Walking up and down the stairs? Sex? Curry? Nipple tweaking? Walking round ikea? Glass of wine? 

Leave me alone.

Plus, the birthing ball is the worst invention in the history of life. If you know me you will be aware that I am the most uncoordinated person that exists. Now imagine that plus a huge bump trying to balance on a big inflatable round object, while bouncing. Yeah.
Plus there's nowhere to store this giant instrument of torture away from the hands of a mischievous toddler. Nowhere.
 

'Exito Wombo, the magic combination presented to me by my hopeful hubby.  Every night.

Touching
My belly is not your property. Now I have a pretty high tolerance for invasions on my personal space. I have a toddler that uses my selected outfit of the day as his personal tissue, always had his hands running through my hair and climbs onto my knee. 
However please don't touch my belly uninvited. Recently lots of people have reached out to touch my bump to see if I've 'dropped yet'. The top of my bump is awful close to my ever expanding boobs.  So things got weird. 

Your bump is neat/big/low/high....'What girl doesn't love her body being scrutinised and commented on on an hourly basis? I don't want to spend money on maternity wear and so I have a very limited wardrobe with which to jazz myself up with in the mornings. We can't all be Kate flippin' Middleton and dainty and glorious at the cusp of motherhood.  

Nope thats not even Kate Middleton, its mee!!!

I'm already feeling pretty self conscious and exposed so commenting on my appearance makes me feel even more silly.You too, husband, 'wow, you're looking really pregnant today' is not a compliment to a hormonal lady. 

Take into account my unreasonable nature and abundance of hormones

Let me spell it out; get out of my way in the supermarket. Make me tea. Do not drive slowly and stupidly infront off my car. Don't park right outside my house forcing me to park down the street and walk for 20 seconds to get to my house. Don't sniff. Don't breath loudly. Don't eat loudly. Don't tell me you're tired. Don't ask me if I've packed my hospital bag, I'll totally do it later. 

Also, someone pack my hospital bag for me please? I can't be bothered, it's so boring and I can't think logically enough to know I'll do it right.
That will not end well. 


Anyways, after that rant let me regain  my inner peace. 
Ahem.
Yes, this really is a lovely time. 

A year in the life of a toddler

So my corner of the Internet has lay dormant for a while. With the demands of work and fixing this house I put my blog on the back burner and just soaked up my family time.  I'm now on maternity leave it appeals to me to get back into blogging and connect with others in similar situations again.

It's been a year or so since my last post and a lovely one full of family milestones. 

Joel has just come out of the terrible twos to become a threenager. These stages are always so negatively labeled making parenting seem like moving from one hellish phase to another. 

 But I have found this a wonderful year!   He found his voice, learnt to express himself through his amazing imagination and developed a distinct personality with ever evolving preferences and dislikes.  

Terrible twos? I disagree, his development has been a joy to watch and to be part of!
Now of course there have been moments when parenting has been tough and there are days of endless whining and pushing the boundaries.
I've tried my best to respectfully parent Joel and offer explanation for limits and discuss his behaviour and feelings with him. I try not to limit him too much and allow him to explore and express himself, feeling listened to.  But there are many days where the only parenting tool I've had to offer is, 'oh, just give over Joel' or recently 'right! I'm phoning santa!!!'.  Shame! 

Even on those challenging days I find it hard to hold my serious parenting face because, quite frankly, even when he's being a wee shit he's still bloody hilarious! 

Joel has had some major events in his wee life over this year. 

He has moved from nappies to pants. A tricky skill to master, and one we are still working on. And when you think you've nailed it? You're wrong. Just ask my husband about a recent shopping trip without wipes which resulted in some improvising with a random sheet of kitchen roll and some left over fruit shoot.

Joel found his voice, with a slow start to talking I began to get concerned.  But apparently Joel was just listening and waiting until he was ready and all of a sudden there was another voice in the house. That kid never shuts up now, from he opens his eyes in the morning he sings his favourite songs, asks questions , constantly narrates his day, tells far fetched imaginative tales and skilfully negotiates biscuits and later bedtimes.  He's pretty cool. 

He has moved from his cosy cot, to mattress in the floor to big boy bed with confidence. 

He has become a big brother, welcoming a baby sister into his life. Now the big kid of the household, he has had to learn the hard lesson that my time is now divided. 

He has left his day nursery as I'm not working but on maternity leave.  He said goodbye to some caregivers that he had grown attached to and who had influenced his development so strongly. He progressed to playschool  making new connections and finding his way in a new territory. I was amazed to watch him take it all in his stride. 

He has developed meaningful relationships with different characters on his life. His granny, who lives only a street away has been a reliable chum in a time of confusion and change since Nuala, his baby sister, arrived 12 weeks ago. At times when I was stuck to the sofa cluster feeding he knew he could look at his granny and not be turned down with the request; 'you play with me granny?'.   Granny, dutifully cast as Zurg,
set off for many adventures with Buzz.  They often share a cup of tea and biscuit together between intense play sessions and share jokes together. In fact he has become quite the social butterfly, developing his own relationships with people important to him, independent and happy enough to go galavanting around houses for sleep overs and hanging out with his cousins. 

However we still have the dummies. I had plans to take them away so many times this year but now with a new baby in the house I am reluctant to mess with anyone's sleep! So dummies are here for the foreseeable future and I'm pretty relaxed about that fact. 

Last Tuesday Joel turned 3. I can't believe it. He's an actual person, a big brother, a part of a playschool class and friendship group, part of the cousins gang.  We have now entered the threenager territory, and although he is continuing to push boundaries and develop plenty of annoying habits, I'm so looking forward to watching this fledgling person grow and develop further. It's that constant internal parenting conflict of wanting to freeze time but revelling in every new stage. 

Terrible twos? Loved it. Bring on the threenager fun!!!

What gets on my nerves about Facebook groups for parents..

Things that annoy me about online mum/parent chat groups on Facebook:


1. Persistent misspelling.
I'm not known for my mad spelling skillz, in fact I am slap dash with details and hide my poor spelling with even poorer handwriting.  But these two repeated offendeders get on my nerves!
-"Admin, please remove this post if not aloud."
-"I'm looking for some advise"

2. Using the Facebook page instead of goggle.
-"anyone know a number for a local taxi company?"
-"anyone know what time Asda is open to on Fridays?"
-"anyone know of the dump is open today"
Just goggle it, it's quicker and it prevents the occurrence of this next one...

3. On the site you will find a variety of characters, some of which can be categorised and I am sure can be found internationally on any 'mums' site/Facebook/chat.  For example;


Anyone know what time the dump is open at today?

Opinionated mum - I don't believe in dumps, all waste should be recycled or reused.

Overly helpful mum - I'm not sure, but it's only a 10 minute drive for me if you want me to hop in the car and go check?

Show off mum - not sure, we had a private company come into our home and sort all the rubbish out while we went and had a family spa treatment.

Obsessed with animal safety mum - I can hear a dog barking next door, should I phone an ambulance????

Off topic mum - bit off topic but does anyone know how to get tomato ketchup stain out of a shirt?

Me - goggle it.

4. Reselling items clearly bought in TKmaxx for profit.

5.  Stating the obvious;
"Can anyone recommend a builder for a fairly big job? Someone trustworthy who will give us a good price."

Auk shit I was going to suggest Bob, but he's a thief and overly expensive.

6. Abuse of people's trustworthy nature and kindness.
 These groups can be amazing places for emotional and even practical support. I have witnessed posts where a single parent has acquired a new property, however the property was totally unfurnished and due to her particular circumstances this person had very few of their own belongings. Within a few hours the group, through offering spare items from their own homes, had furnished the property sufficiently to allow the family to move in comfortably to their new home.  People even offered to deliver items. It's a beautiful modern form of community minded generosity.
However I believe that there are cases when this kindness is abused. People look for stuff for free, bargain down prices when people are selling second hand items claiming their need due to personal circumstances only to then sell on the items for profit. Scummers.

7. Those flippin' glitter glasses, who buys that shite?

Never Trust a Toddler

Living with a toddler is like a bloody hilarious. My wee miniature person is always up a big spongy explorer absorbing up new information and skills. He dances, squeals and chats excitedly in toddler language. He never walks anywhere, rather he runs or skips giggling manicly.  Life is a juggling act of getting the basic life essentials done (keeping the family fed and watered, keeping the house reasonably tidy) and containing his chaos.

There are brief moments when I think, 'I think I've got the hang of this toddler malarky, I've managed to do the dishes/dry my hair/put on a pot of soup without interruption'

And then it hits me.

Why is it so quiet?

1. Toddler is posting front door keys outside through the letter box.

2. Toddler is emptying washing basket and posting items one by one through the stair gate onto the stairs,  and then filing empty washing basket with shoes.

3. Toddler is throwing anything within reach down the toilet.

4. Toddler is scraping newly sanded and varnished floor with stick. ( what stick? One he keeps in some sort of secret toddler wreaking toolkit )

5. Toddler eating unidentified object

6. Toddler has found a Sharpie.

7. Toddler is staging se kind of dirty protest involving exploding nappy.

8. Toddler is emptying pockets of wipes.

9. Toddler is standing on laptop.

10. Toddler is pouring juice from his cup all over the sofas.

11. Toddler is playing with plug sockets

12. Toddler is setting up tv to have subtitles, audio description and changing resolution.

13. Toddler is changing oven settings.

14. Toddler has managed to get into freezer and is feasting on a frozen slice of whole meal bread.

15.  Toddler is wedged behind tv stand.

16. Toddler is moisturising bedroom furniture

17.  Toddler has pulled wet clothing off clothes horse.

18. Toddler is feasting on crumbs he has found between sofa cushions.

19. Toddler has  fashioned makeshift climbing frame and is standing causally on top of table.

20. Toddler is sitting on next door neighbours cat.


Never trust a toddler!

There are some lovely time where I panic, rush to find out what he's up to and find that he's being a wee angel, making pretend toast in his pretend kitchen, carrying his pals Buzz and Woody about and chatting away or dancing to the music on yen tv.
I'm not fooled though, I know it's all part if his cunning plan, to lure me into a false sense of security so he can get up to me mischief next time..
And then of course later on I realise toddler has hidden my house and car keys.

Vegan-ish

So for the last few weeks I've been eating vegan.  Let me get this straight, this change in diet is not fuelled by my passion to live a cruelty free lifestyle, wait that sounds bad - I'm not 'pro' cruelty!!  I'm not against people eating animal products in their diet.  My choice was fuelled by a desire for change.  We had fallen into the trap of eating the same thing all the time, convenience being at the top of our priority list.  Meat was covered in breadcrumbs,  food was cooked from the freezer, more often than not the main colour on our plate was beige. 

My friend had tried the vegan way of eating for a month, her decision was as a result of trying to cut saturated fat out of the diet of her household.  She claimed that she felt amazing as a result, full of energy and was enjoying the new tastes she was being forced to try.  So I went vegan.  Just me, not the rest of the house.  I do not know enough about nutrition to confidently change Joel's diet so dramatically and know he is getting all the essential vitamins and minerals a growing exploring toddler needs.  Phil met my vegan plan with the level of enthusiasm you would expect from any serial snacker/junk food lover.  I wasn't asking him to join in, just not to sabotage my attempts, and so we agreed to live separate kitchen lives. 

The first week I was finding my way, getting on his nerves taking ages reading all the labels in the supermarket and eating totally separately to him and Joel.  My cooking was a bit shit;

Slimy veg, plain pasta, made this for packed lunches in work, ate 2 mouthfuls and gave up.  Yuk 

 I began a quest to find the perfect dairy milk replacement for my cup of tea.  I failed and decided that I was 99% vegan apart from the splash of milk in tea.  Then the weather was amazing and there was a minor burger incident at a BBQ.  This first week also involved the re-discovery of peanut butter, my new best mate. 

Peanut butter and banana on toast with tea.  The perfect comfort food and great to grab on the way out the door to work when I hadn't any packed lunch planned or pre-made. 

The next couple of weeks I got more confident in cooking vegan dishes and was able to cook for the whole family , adding a side of meat to pacify my carnivore other half.  

Colourful veg ready to roast in the Actifry for roast vegetable and lentil soup.  A yummy belly warming soup that was a big hit with the boys.  Joel is always a fan of soup to be honest, at 18months old he is at that stage where he is impressed by his own spoon skills and enjoys any meal that puts these into use.

See?  Spoon addict.  This one was carrot, parsnip, apple and lentil soup.  Another belly warmer. 

Fresh strawberries and Alpro Vanilla Soya yogurt.  Tastes like custard.  Yum.

Baked potatoes, mushrooms, rocket and pretend bacon.  Phil had regular bacon, obvs. 

Vegetable and pretend mince chilli con carne.  A big hit with everyone in the house. 

Phil became less eye-roll-y about the whole thing.  I went out for lunch with my sis in law and didn't manage to eat vegan, I ate off the vegetarian menu instead.  Over these weeks I discovered that Pringles and potato waffles are vegan friendly!  I also tried out some homemade vegan treats.

This might look like a bowl full of mush but this is vegan ice cream.  So yummy,  and so easy to make, and its flippin' healthy!!  Freeze a banana.  Blend it.  Add a spoonful of peanut butter, 2 spoons of coconut milk, mix and then freeze for another 30 mins.  Eat.  Amazing.  

Cinnamon and raison muffins made with courgette to make them moist rather than butter/milk/eggs.  Really tasty and a bit hit with Joel.  

This week Phil was found googling vegan recipes.  He did a vegan shop, researching how he could cook for the family and provide a vegan meal for me.  What a hero, eh?  He also chatted with his friend who knows alot about nutrition type information who said that vegan diet lacks vit B-12.  After a bit of research I decided that I would include the odd egg and fish in my diet.  Therefore I am no longer vegan, but I hope to still reap the same benefits to my health.

Homemade vegan pizza, with a sprinkle o f vegan cheese.  Vegan cheese is not something I will be spending my money on again, but the pizza was lush!  So lush I forgot to take a photo.

Pasta with vegan pesto, spinach, home grown leeks given to us by a neighbour and asparagus made for work lunches this week.

So far I do feel a difference to my energy levels and I am enjoying the experience of trying new recipes.  Restricting your diet encourages you to cook more from scratch, but it has also turned me into one of those annoying people who photographs their food.  Sorrynotsorry. 

I do not know how long this wee fad will last for but I am hoping it will encourage long term healthier eating in my family.  I do promise you this, I will not be one of those people who kills the craic by dissecting the menu at restaurants and quizzing the waiters on preparation methods.  I will not turn my nose up at family functions if the food contains something I choose not the eat.  Promise I'll still be fun, ok!?

Bedroom makeover

So we have been in our new home around 4 months now.  It feels like much longer, as we are all so settled here, it feels like home.  We have fallen into habits and routines already, I have 'my seat' in the living room, the kitchen cupboards have been assigned, we have a night time 'lock up' routine.  Its like we have always lived here.

However as a visiter to our new house you could be forgiven for thinking we have been here only a few weeks, the walls are bare,the beautiful uncovered wooden floor remains untreated, the bathroom is brown and tragic, the back room has half ripped off wallpaper and the spare room has a few unpacked boxes lingering.  Well, Mr Visiter, shut up with your stupid judging, we've done plenty!  We spent days and days stripping off wallpaper and lining paper went up to create our blank canvas.  Boxes upon boxes have been unpacked and organised. Furniture from our old house has been arranged and rearranged in various rooms.  The bulk of the effort during this last 6 weeks or so of lovely weather has been in the front and back garden.  

But this is a house for life, the decorating and sorting can happen organically over time,  we made this move for Joel's benefit and so we have been spending plenty of time as a family enjoying the new lifestyle our new home and neighbourhood has to offer.  

Our pennies are being saved for one big job - the bathroom project.  We have a separate cubicle for the toilet and small bathroom next door, both decorated floor to ceiling with brown tiles that must be at least 40 years old.  So until we get this job done we are tackling low cost projects.    

Last month I focused on getting Joel's room sorted....

And this is where we started, like every other room in this house, with a steamer and a wall paper scraper and hours and hours of scraping and scraping layers and layers of stupid stubborn wallpaper. 

Once the lining paper went up I chose a neutral colour for the walls.  I am not a fan of busy character themed bedrooms for young children.  Joel's room is a small box room, we have plenty of room for play downstairs and so I wanted to keep his bedroom nice and calm for sleeping and relaxing.  I choose  a calm putty colour called 'Soft Pebble' from Homebase.  It's lovely and neutral so I am confident it could withstand a change in theme in the bedroom, plus it would nicely match a pair of curtains we already had that would fit the window in this bedroom. 

There is an alcove in the room with shelving which is great for toy storage.  I added some storage cubes from Ikea to sort toys.  Cost free as we already had them!  In our old flat these boxes were in the spare bedroom and so are bright and flowery.  I did have a minor dilemma considering weather they were too flowery for a boys bedroom and then realised I should catch myself on.   Joel has yet to express a dislike of flowers, and I have never heard of a baby boy falling into a down and out life as the result of a flower box in his bedroom. 

Perhaps I should have tidied the shelves before taking this photo but whats the point?  The reality is that toys are to be played with and so the shelves always are messy have a 'shabby chic' and 'well used' appearance. 

When Joel was born my Auntie Deborah sent a beautiful handmade quilt all the way from Canada.  Its just gorgeous with lovely autumnal colours of orange, mustard yellow and green.  

Isn't this a beautiful piece of work.  This quilt inspired me to sign up to a local quilting class.  I had hopes of turning Joel's old clothes into memory quilts but I only ever managed to get half way through a beginner christmas custion cover.  Quilting is an art and a skill, a skill I sadly don't naturally have nor do i ahve the attention span to develop it.  However attending that class made me appreciate this beautifukl little quilt even more, and the skill and time that went into it.  I decided to use this quilt as the basis of a woodland theme for Joel's bedroom.   

I took a wee notion and drew a tree freehand on her wall.  This was nerve wreaking - not because I was nervous about how it would turn out - I could always paint over it again but because my husband is a wee perfectionist and I was worried he would hate the wobbly edges.  I used a couple of tester pots of paint to do this.  Very low cost.

Taadaa!  Small but perfectly formed, no?  This is a bit bland for me so I enlisted my mum's crafty skills...

She crocheted some colourful owl bunting and a wee owl-y friend to perch on the tree to brighten the room up.  Isn't she terribly talented?  Crocheting - another skill I have never mastered. 

I then added some cheapy frames from B&M Bargains.  A pack of 3 for £2.  Wait, that makes it sound easy.  What actually happened was I bought the frames and then spent WEEKS of nagging the other half to put them up for me.  Apparently there some sort of alien super hammer required for the job that we didn't have.  So it was eventually Father-in-Law to the rescue.  So about 5 weeks later we got the frames up and photoes in the frames ordered from Photobox and Bob's your uncle! Or Mike with the special hammer is your Father-in-Law more like!  

Joel loves his family tree.  In the morning I lift him ontop of the chest of drawers on the changing mat to change his nappy and he likes to point at the faces and try to name them.  He points at the bird and tweets.  Then he pulls at the bunting and swats the frames to try and knock them off because he knows it drives me mad - wee monster.  

Well, what do you think?  Its no artsy fartsy interior design but its putting our wee stamp on our family home.  

5 reasons why everyone needs a trip to Donegal..

This times last month we were on our holidays..

If you've met me or stumbled across my Facebook feed you'll know I love Donegal.  When I was young my granny used to book a house by the beach at Portnoo and everyone used to pile down for one glorious week during the summer.  It was an old house with a miss match of double beds, single beds and sofa beds in a variety of rooms.  Someone new would arrive every day and the tiny kitchen was full of granny, my mum and my aunties tee-hee-ing and laughing while cooking up the dinner.  You were lucky if you managed to keep the same bed 2 nights in a row and it rained 90% of the time but they were really happy holidays!

Now my mum and dad book a house each year in Dunfanaghy.  It too is gathering a crowd of regulars who join us for a couple of days.  As a parent I loved seeing Joel enjoying what I used to love.  From the moment he woke he would be pulling on the back door to go outside to play and explore.  He would play with my cousins, potter with his bucket and spade, go on walks to see animals and dig on the beach until he'd collapse rosy-cheeked, ready for bed.  I loved seeing him spend time with lots of family and being soothed to sleep by my granny singing to him the wee songs she used to sing to me...

My Aunt Jane she called me in

She gave me tea out of her wee tin

Half a bap with sugar on top

Three black balls from her wee shop

My Aunt Jane she's awful smart

She baked 10p in her apple tart

When then halloween comes round

Beside that tart I'm always found

Phil has fallen in love with Donegal too and each year we fantasise about winning the lottery and the big holiday home we would buy there  with our winnings.  So I know its not just me, everyone loves a bit of Donegal, and heres why..

Beautiful deserted beaches...

 

Not a sinner in sight.  

Stunning scenery...

Staring into the Atlantic from the tip of Ireland.  I could be wrong in my geography but I'm pretty sure if you had super dooper strength binoculars the next piece of land you would be able to see would be America. 

Outdoor fun....

We were very lucky with the weather this year and were able to go to the beach without a jumper!  But rain or shine, welly boots or sandals, Joel could be found exploring the beach

There was a field next to the house full of sheep that Joel liked to visit and baa at.  This picture was taken at an outdoor centre.  More of a run down 'Father Ted' affair.  We paid our £4 in, briefly looked around and then swiftly left.  Don't think we'll be back next year.  Do any of you recognise this place from the picture?  

6am rock pooling.  When in Rome, eh?

Joel visited the local stables most mornings to see the horses getting their breakfast.  He's too little to get on a hose this year but he was just as happy to watch..

Family friendly ...

Making sandcastles with granny Jo, great-aunt Emma and my wee cousins.

Exploring the dunes with my cousins, the location where he subsequently met his summer love Amber.

Discovering a hairy caterpillar on the beach with granny Jo.  Pretty much his holiday highlight.

Swinging with daddy.

Sitting and enjoying the view while granda took some photos. 

Nutella pizza...

Ok, so nutella pizza isn't something you would associate with Dunfanaghy traditionally but we went for dinner in a place called The Rusty Oven this year.  It does amazing pizza and you can sit outside practically on the beach to eat it.  There was a surf school in getting a meal and they were served nutella pizza's as dessert.  They looked so good we had to try so we got one to take away to bring back to the house for everyone to try.  Lovely stuff!

Good views, fresh air, family and fun.  Total relaxation, a Donegal break is definitely good for the soul.  Just wish it wasn't so long until our next break..