It's been a while...................

Having just survived the whole bath and bedtime routine I'm back! Is it just my two or do all children go mad just after bath and before bed, at the particular time when I'm at my most grouchiest/hungriest/exhausted?? We've had the snorkelling bath routine tonight which was the cause of much merriment and general farty/squirty noises, hmmm probably explains the overexcitement! So, where to start? I suppose with the snow that you've all posted about and are probably sick to death of by now but bear with me, I'm a little behind. We did manage our one and only sledging trip of the year which was fantastic fun if only to watch my friend Marion whizzing down the biggest hill in our (now broken - sorry kids) sledge wearing a bright green duffle coat and screaming with delight! I have to add that I did it too but only after she'd done the first run, cowardy custard being my middle names.

That started our holiday off with a bang and as our friends departed from their weekend visit my sister and her brood arrived for a few days of shopping, lazing about and cooing over our new baby cousin.

We than had a few days up north at my parents house, Jack came down with chicken pox so took to his bed and Kit and I visited aforementioned baby on numerous occasions for more cooing and smooching.

During the holiday Kit took advantage of long days at home and a clear space in the kitchen to learn to ride her bike (with stabilisers, before you think she's a 3 year old olympic hopeful). This involves her whizzing around the table and island unit at an ever increasing rate of knots, much to her father's great disapproval. I'm of the lazy parenting school of thought, if it keeps them quiet and it doesn't hurt anybody, let them get on with it. That's not to say I don't wince every time she scrapes along my lovingly painted units! She now likes to cycle to school when she can which involved us getting caught in a thunderstorm wearing nothing but a cotton cardigan between us on Monday. Something tells me the safest place to be in said thunderstorm would probably not be on a bike!

Can't put Kit in without mentioning big bro' so here's a picture of a theatre he made with his dad tonight...........................

Whilst I've been gone my first anniversary passed me by on the 20th April. As is the tradition in blogland I'm preparing a little giveaway so keep watching!

Last weekend was the Sudeley Castle grand spring fair at which Andrea launched her new company "Lottie's Barn". I was planning on sharing a stall with her, but I know my limitations and decided that the year before Kit started school was not the best time to set a business up. It was a great success, her stall stood out as one of (if not the) best at the show and she did a roaring trade. She still has a few choice Greengate bits and bobs left so let me know if there's anything you're after.

I'll end with a picture of my new doormat, too exciting I know, be still your beating hearts! Don't you just love it, one of my first purchases from Andrea. Try not to look at the scruffy door, that's what comes from having a son who kicks the bottom of it to open it, every time!

Off now for my weekly fix of "the Apprentice", I love it, love it, love it! Keep posted for the giveaway!.....................

Taking after Mummy......

Don't you love forget-me-nots? They take me back to my childhood when the garden was full of them. They are, however taking over my small bed and every year I have to haul loads of them out!

It's been a creative few days here in the VH household. Last week the weather was dire so the children and I decided to be crafty. Now I have to tell you, quite often the words "can we paint?" fall on deaf ears in this house, I try to avoid it at all costs, the mess and most of all the clearing up afterwards put me off, cruel mother that I am. So in order to avoid poster paint armageddon we had to come up with an alternative. Inspired by all the fabulous blogs I read we borrowed a few ideas and here's what we did..........



I asked both of them to draw anything they liked. Jack chose a seaside theme and Kit chose a party scene complete with flags (bunting) and her new baby cousin, my sister and her big cousin.


They then had the choice of any fabric from my massive scrap collection (can't bear to throw even the tiniest bit away!). They decided where each piece would go and I then bonda-webbed them on and machine stitched around each piece. We stapled them to cheap canvases from the craft shop, et voila, Jack and Kitty now have their very own masterpieces in their bedrooms...............................


They're both really pleased with the results and I love the fact we've got a permanent reminder of the stage they're at at this moment in time. We've got loads more ideas in the pipeline!

Last weeks car boot purchase (found by good old Andrea) has become Kitty's new throne in the kitchen. Deciding we didn't like the orange pine effect we thought we'd throw even more colour into our already rainbow like kitchen and painted the new addition bright yellow, Kitty's favourite colour in the world.

Of course, we couldn't leave Jack out of the equation so his old chair got a coat of "letterbox red" and it looks great. As always his beloved weekly copy of "Beano" waits for his return from school.

I often wonder what my children will remember about their childhood home and whether it will influence them as they grow up. Will they become staunch "minimalists" or will they embrace colour, clutter and general chaos as I do?? Sometimes even I think there's too much in this house, it does make for much more cleaning, but I can't help it, it seems to be an inbuilt desire to surround myself with stuff and my entire family have the same affliction. May as well give into it eh!......................

Before I go, a lot of you asked which books we have been reading in our book groups. Here goes.......

The Memory Keepers Daughter by Kim Edwards - nice, easy read.

The Collector by John Fowles - bit disturbing, not one I'd have chosen but really enjoyed it.

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini - a great book I thought, bit depressing but thought provoking.

The Summer Book by Tove Jansson - my choice after reading "life changing" type reviews about it. Didn't change my life one iota, but a nice, gentle book.

Nana by Emile Zola - A hard book to get into but once I did I really surprised myself by loving it.

Hope this helps those who asked, have a lovely weekend everyone, school holidays start tomorrow, yippeee!.............