Currently//September Style

Feeling// Glad we finally have a new car that doesn't cut out or buck when in low gears, or permanently have the ominous engine light on. But also frustrated that we had to spend all of our Saturday (five hours at least) in a used car show room going through the motions. Super excited to have a card and not a key - welcome to the modern world. Also like the cherry red colour - a departure from our usual preference of turquoise. Slightly anxious about taking it out on finance as I have always preferred paying for things up front.

Watching// It was the Belgian's turn (actually it always seems to be the Belgian's turn) to choose a new series on Netflix and so we opted for Walking Dead as we'd heard good things. Despite the fact it is based on a comic book (not my thing) and about zombies (also not my thing) and very, very gory (defo not my thing) I am actually enjoying it and now waiting for the new series to come out.

Reading// All the standard English-teacher-in-September books like Importance of Being Earnest and Woman in White. Reading for pleasure is over till next summer.

Loving// Days off with my little man. Hanging out in the park, or retail parks or having an adventure walk or lunch in Leeds. It makes working worth it when I know I have two special days at the end of the week for just the two of us. Also currently loving his nap time - does this make me a bad mother? Haha!

Planning// My September back-to-school resolution was to be more organised and so I have a school planner and a personal planner. For the last few weeks I have been meal planning on a budget and using online shopping to cut down on spending my days off food shopping and also cut down on spending as I get tempted in shops! Would meal planning and especially using the slow cooker to meal plan be blog post worthy?

Photographing// Nothing. Wah! Wah! My phone fell in the bath whilst doing bath time and has not quite recovered and my SLR is pretty much dead. So its gonna be a lean few weeks for my Project Life. I have been hi-jacking the Belgian's instagram - that makes me an addict right?!

Creating// Lots of cute Project Life spreads of our Belgian trip using the Heidi Swapp Dreamy PL kit. Loving the little stamper with many different designs and using some new sized page protectors.

Pinning// Autumn sensory ideas to do with the baby, the chipolte and sausage lasagna looks yummy and this gorgeous Project Life layout using black and white photographs and lots of bright pops of colour.

Writing// Thank-you letters for the Baby's first birthday where he was spoilt with lots of lovely presents. He was one in July. Better late than never - they say! 

What are you loving lately?

One Photo Twenty Words & Wicked Wednesdays unite

 What lunch? 

That one * points down *

Tastes better off the floor

So the dog says.

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Linking up with the lovely Abi over at Creating Paper Dreams and Brummy Mummy for Wicked Wednesday linky

Me on a Monday

So over here its been at back-to-schooling, park going. slide diving, nature walking, canal tow pathing, cafe frequenting, 30th birthday party attending, lesson planning, chore hating (see previous post), project lifing, dad diying, online grocery shopping, meal planning (get me) and slow cookering kinda weekend.

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Jumping on Sian's bandwagon over here

Family Day out in Yorkshire: Meanwood Urban Valley Farm

Do you have go to places for great days out in your local area? 

Just before the summer I found this gem - Meanwood Valley Urban Farm and have been a handful of times this summer. Its great for a family day out or play date with another mummy.

Reasons why it is fun?

1) There is a slide. Slides are always fun for a little one.

2) There are real live animals for him to pet and feed (although on our most recent visit you couldn't feed them as they said they are getting too fat!) 

3) Lots of open spaces for the littles to run about in

4) Lots of fun and colourful toys like this rocking horse

5) A bit fat and furry rabbit running loose for the littles to stroke. Can you believe how brave The Baby is? Unlike The Belgian (see photo below) who was too scared to let the goats or sheep eat from his hand!

6) Also there is a cafe serving light lunches and ice-creams etc so depending on the time of day you go there is a always a quick pit stop. The one day the sun was shining and so we sat on the picnic benches outside, but another time it was overcast and so we sat inside and had a hot chocolate. 

What is your go to day out?

Lately...

Another action packed week - although tinged with sadness as its the last week of the holidays.
We've had a fab time all together and we'll miss Ellis and our family days out now.
I am feeling anxious as he wasn't very happy at his second settling in session at the new childminder and am hoping he will adjust quickly. She is a stranger and I am sure he was a bit grizzly at his settling in sessions with his old childminder too
We went for a walk on Otley Chevin and I was amazed that the Baby walked most of the way on his own. He was charming all the ladies we passed and admiring the dogs too - he just doesn't like it when the dogs bark! We were faffing about trying to set the phone up for a family selfie, when a passing dog walker offered to do the honours. I am quite impressed with her skills...

Next day not so fun at the Baby had to get his jabs. There were three of them in his poor little thigh! He was very brave and only cried a bit and so we got him a slinky as a treat. Best 25p I ever spent!

Then we headed into Leeds for a family day out. They are doing a free beach in Millenium Square for the summer and so he enjoyed pottering round there and I couldn't resist this photo op.

He loved watching all of the rides and I am looking forward to him being older so I can take him on them as the Belgian is a bit of a wimp when it comes to rides. We also stopped in to the Leeds museum as they have an amazing section for under 5s which simulates Leeds and there are houses, costumes to try on and tunnels to crawl through. It is even better than soft play and we had it all to ourselves - no nasty big kids beating him up in the ball pool.
Mummy and daddy had a treat by trying the new burger bar to open in Leeds - Almost Famous. I will review it on here soon.

Friday we went to the Yorkshire Dales ice-cream farm. It is the best place to go with kids as it has a really fun outdoor and indoor play area. The outdoor play equipment is all made from wood and imported from America. The Baby loved the little train and steering the wheel. I had a delicious hot dog with all the trimmings, a snickers milkshakes and we shared a huge portion of skin on fries. Seriously tasty American food.

The Baby has been obsessed with putting underwear on his head and in this picture I dub him Captain Underpants!

His new favourite thing to do is to clap and I have a proud mumma moment when I sing the first line of "If you're happy and you know it" and he automatically claps his hands.

Yesterday we went on a picnic to Ilkley river and the boys all got carried away and decided to go for a swim in the icy lake. The Baby followed suit and just went straight in in his clothes and guess who had to wade in and fetch him? Yes, mothers have all the fun!

Back to school on Tuesday and so we have one more day of fun in the sun! 

What have you been up to this week?

Let's talk about standards...

So it's confession time from the Brit in my whole five years of marriage I have never...ironed. Well probably only a handful of my clothes as I used to have a certain shirt for work which looked awful unless it was pressed. Suffice to say I never purchased one of those again. It was agreed early on in our marriage that I wouldn't be ironing his shirts. I feel this is fair considering the fact we both work(ed) full time and he is old enough to do it himself. 

In fact, whilst we're on confessions, I have never really relished housework. The thing i enjoy most about being a 'housewife' is baking and even then I like to leave an icing sugar explosion all over the work surfaces - to the degree that the Belgian begins to wonder if the muffins are really worth it. 

So, sometimes cleaning has been a bone of contention in our household as The Belgian seems to have exacting standards - but not always the desire to carry these out. In my back to work post I aired my concerns about returning to work and the fact that during maternity leave the Belgian had started to do less and less around the house. Don't get me wrong he is a really hands on dad but laundry, cooking and cleaning seemed to come under my remit since I suddenly had so much time on my hands. *Ahem* Some of you reached out to me on social media offering advice and presenting the idea of needs/must and discovering the things you really couldn't put up with versus what you reasonable had time to do around the house.

For me I like clear, clutter free surfaces. Once the Baby is in bed I have to make the lounge resemble something more relaxing and so toys have to be stored in their boxes, but I can let vacuuming slide. So long as it looks clean and clear I am happy with this. Am I alone in this? Quite a few (read: most) of my work colleagues have cleaners and this used to be seen as an indulgence, many now view as a necessity. However, we can't afford this kind if indulgence on our already-tight-one-of-us-on-part-time measly budget. No matter how much I hate cleaning the bathroom. So in the mean time a slovenly wipe with the wet wipes will have to do. Please tell me I'm not alone in this? 

So back to the ironing confession...on our recent trip to Belgium the mother-in-law offered to do some of our laundry. And yes she ironed it. I was amazed at the difference!  How much more pristine the baby looked in our pressed clothes. How much nicer and cleaner the clothes looked. Have we all been going around looking like scruffs for the last five years? Was ironing something I could still push to the bottom of the pile - 'scuse the pun! 

So I returned with a new resolve. The Belgian almost fainted when I set the ironing board up in the lounge and got to work. Irons and baby's are not a great combo and so I waited for his nap time. I pressed our clothes to within an inch of their life and then tucked them away in their drawers or hung them up and for a few days we all looked smart and the Baby looked like a Baby Gap model or something similar. 

Next load? Same again except this time the Baby was napping and so I couldn't put it away so I just put my neat little pile of laundry on a chair and was horrified to return a few hours later and find it all flung across the room - with the Baby wearing a pair of pants as a fetching hat. All of my hard work was ruined as everything was creased, covered in fluff and in need of ironing AGAIN. Am I fighting a losing battle? Should I revert back to stretching and occasionally pressing with the hair straighteners? I know ironing is the bane to most women's life so can we just work the just-got-out-of-laundry-basket look a few more seasons?

Basically at the end of the day something's gotta give.

And it won't be my crafty time.

Or Nashville time.

Or pinterest time.

What are your cleanliness standards? Any quick fixes to make a working mum's life easier?

Lately...

Okay, so since we were entertaining this bank holiday 'Me on a Monday' didn't happen but since we're still on summer hols it was a fun week and I'd like to record it for my Project Life - if nothing else! These pictures may make it look as if all we do is eat, but it has been an exceptional gastonomic week! Plus since we can't afford a week in the sun (which we're all desperate for) we decided this week would be a staycation for us. 

So it started with an epic meal at Five Guys at Manchester Trafford Centre. This was one of our fav places to eat when we road tripped in California, in our former life, and so it was a great trip down memory lane. At £20 for a burger, hot dog, large fries and a drink it is on the pricey end of burger joints, but it is a little bit special. I love that you can choose all of your toppings and so it seems more fresh than other fast food joints. 

 

Monday night we had a rare date night at The Light in Leeds. I was invited to a blogging event where you have a different course at three different restaurants. In began with drinks at Cafe Rouge, then starters at Miller and Carter. This is a steak house that we have never eaten at before, but we were very impressed. The stars of the show for me were the homemade tortilla chips, whilst The Belgian enjoyed the scallops.

Mains were at Frankie and Benny's and we were served hefty platters groaning with your Italians American favs like calzones, pasta and burgers.  I had a whole huge platter to myself, being a veggie, and I struggled to finish it all. My favourite dish was the spinach and ricotta cannelloni and The Belgian enjoyed the meatball calzones.

 

  Dessert was at Browns and they did not disappoint with the English classic Eton Mess. It was very instagram worthy - which pleased all the food bloggers in us! 

 

Some Project Lifing actually happened. The Babies' first birthday, which I still have to share with you all, was documented. I will share some layouts with you soon. 

 

Wednesday we brunched at the local Beefeater enticed by their kids eat free offer. There was a great choice for a cooked breakfast and for a continental breakfast. It wasn't the best breakfast I have ever had, but it was certainly filling and it hit the spot and we didn't need to eat again until tea time.

  Friday we headed into Leeds and got the Baby some new clothes for autumn - which is sneaking up on us far too quickly. In fact was that one week of sunshine in July our summer? Really! 

Below the Baby is modelling his new mustard body warmer from Baby Gap - they have 30% off at the while so its a good time to stock up. He looks like a real little boy in this and it breaks my heart.

In the afternoon, whilst the Baby napped, I did some more Project Life and was particularly impressed with how quickly and easily this little layout came together.

 

  Saturday morning we set off early for Baildon Farmers market and stocked up on the delicious brownies from Yummy Yank and fresh sourdough bread for our lunch. We let the Baby have a run around in the community gardens too. 

 

Saturday afternoon the Baby and I attended a nineties themed birthday party. I wished I still had my Spice Girlesque platform trainers and Oasis tee. My team got 45/50 in the guess the intro quiz but were pipped to the post by half a point!

  Sunday my parents and older sister arrived and we went for a walk around Yeadon Tarn. Alli likes to push him in his pram and even offered to chase the Baby round in the park for a while. 

Monday we had a girls day out in Leeds which involved shopping, sushi and smoothies. 

My favourite picture is his expression when granny wanted a goodbye kiss!

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Linking up with the lovely Hannah over at Make Do and Push 

Musings on Motherhood: My baby is One! (and a bit now...)

 

 So since there was never an eleven month post I will combine eleven and twelve months . Did you miss it dear readers or was that just my sister?

An example of his climbing abilities

Suffice to say its been non-stop with the house move, his birthday party, work and finding a new childminder. Yes folks the very day of the house move my amazing childminder handed her notice in. Devastated was not the word. We felt like she was irreplaceable as he was so happy there with his little playmates and she did such great activities with them and I really felt like we were on the same page in terms of our philosophies on raising kids. So its been a stressful, as well as lovely, few months.

So the achievements and moments that I want to remember for eleven and twelve months are :-

• saying 'Hiya' as he holds the remote control, my mobile phone, the landline, a mega block, or anything up to his ear
• Fifth of June he took six steps in a row
• 22nd June he stood up in the garden and just started taking some steps and there has been no stopping him since then. In a matter of weeks he went from crawling most of the time to walking all of the time.
• he is still putting everything in his mouth - stones, shoes, toys, a cigarette butt (just the once at the park - gross!) and sand
• he has finally started enjoying books - especially those with textures like the 'that's not my...' series
• he is still really smiley and in one of his birthday cards my teacher friend wrote that he has a 'smile to light up cities.' Top marks for that simile Martha!
• he has really good spacial awareness and can navigate different heights and surfaces expertly. He manages to climb down from sofas and beds with relative ease.

• his sleeping regressed during the move and he was back to waking at 2.30 - 3 and only going back down with a bottle and we had a few hairy nights, but glad to report we have had four nights of 11/12 hour stretches...amazing!
• he loves climbing up slides, onto sofas, the window sill, onto his sandpit, onto the telly and on top of boxes. We don't always like it so much.
• he is very chatty and when he is in his cot in the morning he babbles away to himself. He must be speaking Flemmish as I don't understand a word.

• he loves opening my kitchen cupboards and pulling all of my pans out. I don't love this one so much!
• we celebrated his first Father's Day and he made a cute card with his finger prints on and we treated The Belgian to some nice goodies and even made him a soft drink cake - inspired by a nappy cake at a recent baby shower I attended.

• he is such a character and we can already see how sociable and confident he will be. At the airport recently he just walked around from bench to bench stopping to chat to everyone, smile at them and touch their knees. He is very tactile and seems to have no sense of 'stranger danger' yet! 
• he loves being outside and going to the park. He loves going really high on the swings and going head first down the slide

• his eating habits can still be hit and miss as he is still wholly reliant on his milk. We have tried a few different things and have recently found yogurt drinks in his bottle a good way to get him eating more 'solids' whilst still having a suck! His fav foods are sausages, grapes, yogurt, crackers and raisins. He loves anything sweet like ice-cream, ice lollies and cake. Of course he only has these things as the occasional treat!
• he got very involved in supporting Belgium in the World Cup and would sit in the chair next to dad swigging on his bottle and babbling about the off side rule and it was a really sweet snapshot of the future. 

We never fail to be thankful for the blessing that Ellis is in our lives and we cannot wait to see what the next year will hold for him. No doubt lots more action!