Point + Shoot - 20th September - 21st September 2014

I am afraid that I don't have many photographs to share from this weekend. We have just been so busy with birthday celebrations.

On Saturday we travelled over to Huddersfield to have a meal out with the hubby's side of the family to celebrate our nephew's 21st birthday. It is always great to see him as he is also the twins Godfather. It has now been just over a week since Isabella stopped wearing nappies and I honestly was not sure how she would do on the hours journey. Despite having a sleep she stayed dry! I was so proud of her. We enjoyed a lovely meal but had to rush back to miss the football traffic. But it did give us chance to go shopping before going home.

On Sunday Joseph's birthday continued! We had planned a family meal out with our parents. Before the meal we took Joseph to spend some of his birthday money. We all enjoyed our food and invited everyone back to our house for a glass of bubbly to toast the birthday boy, my first born! Joseph got a skateboard for his birthday so spent the afternoon practising.

Even though it has been a lazy weekend cooking wise, we feel as though we simply have not stopped. The weekend has flown by in a blur of meals out and seeing lots of people. We are most definitely looking forward to a more relaxed weekend next week!

What did you do over the weekend?

As always I am sharing our weekend with the lovely Em at Snowing Indoors.

Word of the Week - 19th September 2014

There is only one word which has dominated this week. That word is...

TEN

My Joseph turns ten today. As you can imagine any birthday is an exciting time but when you are turning ten it is just that bit more exciting. Going from single figures to double figures is such a huge thing for any child.

As Joseph's mum, I cannot quite believe that my son is turning ten. How did that happen? Where did the last ten years go?

I am so proud of the boy that Joseph is. He dotes on his brother and sister and despite being too old now for kisses he still gives great cuddles. He really is growing up way too quickly for my liking. It is thanks to Joseph that I am where I am today. He brought me back home and made me live my life differently. Before Joseph I was a bit of a tearaway living abroad. But that all changed the day I found out that I was pregnant. I had someone else to put before me. He made me live for something. He gave me my life back, a reason to live. When he is older I will tell him how much he did for me, I will always be so thankful for him.

We have got a busy birthday weekend planned. Today is Joseph's evening. He has asked for a pizza tea and a board game night. We are not only celebrating Joseph's birthday but also our nephew, the twins Godfathers 21st birthday on Saturday and having a family meal out for Joseph's on the Sunday.

What word would sum up your week?

As always I am sharing my word of the week with the lovely Jocelyn at The Reading Residence.

Alphabet Project - J

This weeks letter is J.

J could be two very special people in my life but one fits nicely into another letter so I am going to save him for then.

My J this week is...

JOSEPH

Joseph is my first born and his arrival really did change my life. He calmed me down and made me look at how I was living my life. He brought me back home to my family in England after living abroad for 7 years. He did so much more for me than he'll even know.

He has adapted so well to the big changes in our lives. Meeting the hubby was a huge change that gave Joseph the Dad that he wished for. Then the transition going from a family of three to a family of five. This was a massive change for Joseph, having a new baby is always going to be big but he had too deal with twins! He has always taken everything in his stride and I am so very proud of him.

That is why my J has to be Joseph x

As always I am sharing my Alphabet Photo with the lovely PODcast - Alphabet Project

2013 Round Up - July - December

The last 6 months of last year were full of great highs but were dominated by a massive low!

Today, is a hard day to write this but I know that it will do me good. It is particularly hard because today would have been my grandads birthday.

I found it hard at new year because I knew that today was coming.

Now that it is here it is not as hard as I thought but I have done a lot of crying and thinking yesterday so I have probably got a lot of it off my chest. But also I have not stopped today, until now.

Here is my round up of the last 6 months of 2013...

July

July was hubby's birthday. He doesn't mind having his birthday as he is 4 years younger than me and takes great pleasure in reminding me that I am older than him!
In July my little blog was born!
I wanted to start a blog before but when the twins were smaller I simply did not have to time. In July I felt the time was right and set to work. I immediately became addicted to my blog, I instantly loved writing my posts and have gained so much confidence in my writing. I love it and am looking forward to the coming year and challenges. I started off writing about our lives and the children, however I soon realised how much I enjoy writing about my baking and cooking. I found that it is a great way to express the passion that I have for making food for my loved ones.
Joseph broke up from school for the summer holidays. But first he had his sports day and won all of his races! I was so proud!
I knew that the summer holidays would be a challenge for me. Keeping all 3 children occupied and amused certainly kept me busy! We enjoyed many a day out in the garden and at the park.

My little man

School holidays and fun in the park

My little sweet pea

Joseph helping is dad in the garden



My sports day winner!



My blog is born!

 

August

August was the hardest month.
As I write this my heart sinks, my eyes well up and I feel a lump in my throat.
In August I spent the last time I will ever be able to with my grandad who we suddenly lost.
This month broke my heart.
He was such a big part of my life and to see him fade away will be something I will never forget. However I am now starting to concentrate on the happy times.
Yes they hurt and make me cry because I miss him but it would be what he would want me to remember. The happy days, the smiles, the quiet moments we had walking down the garden. That is what I will treasure.



My dear grandad and I on my wedding day x

September

September soon came and it was back to school for Joseph.
In September my oldest baby turned 9!
How can I have a 9 year old?
The last 9 years have flown by and he is growing way too quickly for my liking! I am so proud of how Joseph has coped during this last year. He has gone from being an only child to having not one but two siblings. It must have been hard for him to adapt but he has done it and I am so proud of him!



Birthday boy x



A very naughty chocolate cake



Big eyes!



Passing the time reading

October

October was a busy month.
We celebrated our twins christening! After everything that had happened over the summer the Christening was something that I really needed. It gave me something to focus on away from my grief and something positive to look forward to.
The Christening was followed by our second holiday in Northumberland. We spent a week discovering new places and revisiting our favourites.
Again my parents came along as did my sister and her family for a couple of days so that we could celebrate my dads birthday.
As the twins were older on they really enjoyed being out and about and found staying somewhere new a real adventure. We all had a great week and certainly did need the break!



The twins were Christened



The twins loved taking a ride on a train
 

Time with my boy


Exploring a castle with daddy



Finding the spooks at Alnwick Castle



November

After a busy October we were grateful for a quiet November.
We busied about at home and with the children.
Hubby built in some new shelves and a desk for Joseph and I introduced the twins to baking!



Cheese!



Me and my treasures!



Helping mummy bake some cakes

 

December

Wow! December arrived so quickly.
2013 has flown. We got our tree and decorations up, Christmas was nearly here!
This year was to be our first Christmas at home.
We normally either go to my mum and dads or my hubby's. But this year we said that we wanted to stay at home so that the children can be with their toys and we could relax more. So my mother in law came and stayed with us and celebrated with us.
As it was our first Christmas at home, it was also my first Christmas dinner!
I had spent weeks planning and preparing Christmas puddings and cakes ready for the big day.
Thankfully everything went according to plan and we all enjoyed a huge dinner with a lovely bottle of red wine.
We spent Boxing day at my mum and dads. We only live down the road from the, so once it was the twins bedtime we came home and they joined us to watch a film and finish the day off together.
After that it has been non stop!
We even managed a childless lunch date thanks to my mum and dad!
New years eve was spent at my mother in laws. However, thanks to early wake up calls from the twins, we did not see the new year in but was equally proud to have made it to 11pm!



Oh Christmas tree!




Joseph with Santa
 

Boxing Day meal



Boxing Day meal



A rare childless lunch date

The Christmas week has flown by. Hubby is back at work today and the decorations are down. The house is full of toys but we now have normality back again! As much as I love getting the decorations out I am equally pleased when it's time to pack them away.
Here is to a year that is full of laughs, smiles, quality family time and lots of baking and blogging!!!
Happy new year and thank you for reading my little blog x

2013 Round Up - January to June

2013 what a year you have been!
We have had a lot of ups.
We had a massive down.
But all in all it has been, as always a busy year!

Our first year in our first home!

This is my round up of the first 6 months. I am doing it in two separate posts because the first 6 months were all great months. Some were busy and others were quiet but each month was great because we spent time together as a family doing things that we love.
The second half of the year was not so good and will be harder to write.
So here's my round up of January to June 2013...
 

January

At the end of 2012 I faced the uncertainty of whether my voluntary redundancy would be accepted.

Just the thought of leaving my babies to go back to work made me feel physically sick not to mention the financial worry of whether we could afford for me to work.

Thankfully in January I got the news I was praying for.

My voluntary redundancy had been accepted!

I rearranged my hours to part time hours and spread my annual leave over my remaining time until my redundancy date arrived!

I didn't have to leave my babies!

I was now, officially a stay at home mummy!!!

The twins started to move more. They rolled and shuffled everywhere. This is the month we had to start "twinproofing" the house!
 

The twins on the move

Joseph looking forward to the coming year

Me and my babies!

 

February

 

In February our beautiful babies turned 1!
How could their first year go so quickly?
They have come on in leaps and bounds during their first year.
They were no longer the two little premature babies!
For their birthday I made my first novelty birthday cake!
As I used to worked full time I never had the time to bake, so Joseph's birthday cakes were always bought ones. So this year I knew that things would change and I looked forward to baking their first birthday cake!
When we moved into our house just before Christmas 2012 it really was a rush to get in for Christmas and the bedrooms were done in a hurry. So this month we tackled Joseph's bedroom. As there is quite a big age gap between Joseph and the twins he often needs his own space and time out. So his room was the first that needed to be done. We removed a large wardrobe that had been put in there and replaced it with a tall boy to go underneath his high rise bed. This made his room feel bigger and gave him a great room to call his own!

Our babies turn 1 year old!

 

Twins 1st birthday cake

Joseph loving his new room

 

 

March

Not a lot happened in March. We continued getting settled into our new house.
The twins grew even more and became more mobile.
Of course we also had mothers day and I got well and truly spoilt!

The twins were really coming into their own!

I got spoilt on mother's day x

April

In April we had our first holiday as a family of 5!
We had a great time up in Northumberland. But we had terrible nights with the twins. Every night I was in one bed with Taylor whilst hubby slept in the other with Isabella.
The travel cots were not a success!
Despite the bad nights we had plenty of fun days out as a family and had my mum and dad around to help and to keep Joseph occupied.
In April the hubby and I celebrated our second wedding anniversary.
A lot has happened in our marriage.
I became pregnant with the twins only 3 months after our wedding so it has been non stop since we started.
Hubby has always been my rock and is literally my other half. I just wouldn't function without him.
April also saw the arrival of the two newest members of our family.
Our two chickens!
They are great animals to keep, not just for the constant supply of eggs but I also love the children's reactions to them. They love going down to see them and wait to see if we have any eggs!



Ready to go on our first holiday as a family of 5

Isabella discovers she can pull funny faces

A cool, spring day at Alnwick Castle

Celebrating two years of marriage with my hubby x



My hubby on our lunch date to celebrate our wedding anniversary


Our new arrivals

May

We have walking twins!!!!
Apart from walking and running twins May was pretty quiet so we started working more in the garden.
The twins and Joseph enjoyed the first bit of good weather that we were having and made the most of it by going outside to play when we could.

At first Isabella hated the grass
so spent the time sat on a blanket
playing with her toys

Taylor discovering the outside playhouse

My 3 beautiful children enjoying the sunshine

Joseph loves being out so when the sun returns he is outside

June 

June was my birthday.
I never look forward to my birthday's.
It's another year older.
This year I was 35 which is quite scary.
As I certainly do not feel my age, apart from when I get forgetful but I blame the children and not my age!
We spent every dry moment that we had in the garden both playing with the children and tending to the plants.
We really do love this time of year!



Exploring in the garden

Fun in the sun with my little lady

Joseph is still not too big for a love

 



This is the first, happy half of the year.
If we had anticipated what was going to happen in the second half of the year we may have spent more time with my grandparents. However no one can guess what the future may bring so I will not look back and think like this.
The next 6 months did have smiles, giggles and good special times along side the heartbreaking, hurtful times.
But it is the hard times which will take me longer to write so please bear with me.
Plus the second half of the year saw my little blog born so there is more to tell!!!