Category: Children
Happy New Year! xxx
But before that..did you have a lovely Christmas?
We did. Ignoring the fact it’s the first fake one ever to grace this house, we even managed a Christmas tree of sorts.
Decorated with everything homemade..
From reindeer dioramas and cotton yoyos,
To felt snowman,
And special handmade gifts.
Then on the big night itself we laid a cunning plan with Bella and Charlie to catch the red man in action. We sneakily stuck a mobile phone to the wardrobe door….and set it to timer…and blow-me-down…(with a little help from capture the magic)…it only went and worked!!
And look what I got in my stocking!
Then it was a quick glass of champagne by the tree before being whisked off to a feast at Auntie Ali’s..in a London black cab. How civilised?
Father, daughter love..
Cousin love.
Fairy love.
(Spot the odd one out) (it’s harder than you think..)
Then to top the festivities off..Charlie lost his first front tooth..it hails a whole new dawn..
Laters, Kate x
Spotted..
Blossom on a tree on our walk to school, the autumn leaves still hanging on…
Our mad weather is even confusing nature.
Also spotted, the van for a company replacing windows..
Maybe it’s the time of year and lack of sleep due to children coughing and spluttering through the night…but surely I’m not the only person who read their dodgy advertising slogan and thought..croup??
Laters, Kate x
A Cultured Christmas..
It’s the first of December (gulp) so our two elves on shelves, Jessie and Heinrik sorry – Pinkadou – he’s just been renamed by Charlie (‘Did you know Pinkadou is an old Italian name, Mummy??’ and there was I thinking it was made up. Silly, silly) have made their first appearance. Spotted them?
There they are sitting quietly on our giant loveheart.
Which, without the children, would make them horribly open to very childish abuse…
Which would be a very, very terrible thing….
Laters, Kate x
Fireworks x
It’s a fun time of year in the UK..halloween rolls into bonfire night which this year marks the 410 year anniversary since Guy Fawkes and his gang tried to blow up the houses of Parliament. Excited children, mulled wine, glowsticks and big bangs set to music..Uptown Funk withv synchronised explosions anyone?
What’s not to love?
Laters, Kate x
Hell-oween!
I did my bit for Halloween this year, complete with extra eyeballs and hairy, eyelash lips..
The house is still a building site..which could’ve made the ideal location for a spooky party, except the potential scenarios for genuine disaster and really putting the hell in halloween..so we all dressed up, my niece included and relied on others to provide the fun..
Although we did make some eyeball ice cubes..grapes with blueberries and a bit of raisen.
Or the savoury option..radish and olive.
Is it OK to say the kids looked lovely??!
Friend Jenny’s fab pumpkin..
It’s an evening the kids love..maybe because it rebels against every parental rule in the book..
Mwhaha-haaaaaaa!
Laters, Kate x
Cavorting in Kent x
There’s a touch of magic to a windswept English beach caught in the throes of autumn.
The lack of sunshine made no difference to the kids.
Big or small.
These were taken on Camber Sands on Bella’s ninth birthday.
How time flies.
We were lucky to spend the week with another lovely family which meant rounders was a serious option.
Not that the weather was all bad.
Visiting the glorious Walmer Castle..
With it’s doorbell of lust.
And views across the sea.
It has my personal favourite combination of grand but homely.
(I’ve charged my two with the task of becoming the Warden of the Cinq ports so I can live here in my dotage. I think it’s a small thing for a mother to ask for..)
We cycled, ate, drank, swam and geocached our days away. (If you’ve not experienced geocaching it’s an app that using GPS, shows where little pots of treasures are hidden. Addictive.)
There’s the hunt, the journey..
And the success..this was a plastic fish swapped for some acorn shells. Hmmmmmmm.
What none of us had ever seen before was the amount of mushrooms growing on the beach..
All different types, like something out of a Tintin book..
Shame our only knowledge of mushrooms was those with plastic cling wrap..but then we are urbanites, very happy to enjoy the delights of the countryside and re-charge the batteries with good friends, before heading back to the big smoke, building works..and the run down to Christmas. Help.
Laters, Kate x
Parent’s Graffiti..
Kitten to cat,
Puppy to dog,
Foal to horse
Child to…
Laters, Kate x
Art Open Evening x
So this is the thing…my lovely weekly Art Class are having two Open Evening studio nights this week on Friday 9th October and Saturday 10th October from 6.00 pm till 8.00 pm at the hut on Wandsworth Common next to the Sky Lark cafe.
And all are welcome! You can come for a wander and a gander at all the work on display..there’s lots.
Or you can even get stuck in and do some drawing like Bella, Charlie and Lily did at our first open evening last week..
(If the ganets let you, there might even be the odd cheesy puff..)
So if you’re in the area and you’ve been meaning to brush up your artistic skills, but keep putting it off…
Come on down..you can even join our weekly class on a Monday from 9.30 am to 11.00 or 11.00 to 12.30..or if the inclination takes you, do the double. It’s seriously one of life’s great joys.
Amanda, our tutor and mentor is amazing and believes anyone can draw.
And despite taking on arts waifs and strays, the quality of the work she inspires is exceptional.
So come in for a browse..or some fancy pencil work..the choice is yours!
Laters, Kate x
Go England!
Charlie supporting England as only Charlie knows how..in a world cup rugby top and a matching earring..
‘Just the one Mummy, Just the one!’
So Celine it’s scary…
Laters, Kate x
The Final Hurrah!
Seems a shame to let them languish in the photo library, so – ‘ello sailor! here they are…the last chapter of Greece 2015 starting with standing on the beach, ouzo in hand, looking back to Leonidio..
Walking back to my parent’s house.
We’d timed our return well..the figs were now ripe!
We travelled to different beaches..I was the one running behind. Not.
Spetses is renown for it’s clear waters..I have yet to find a place to compare.
Charlie got obsessed with fishing!
Success! (There is the world’s smallest fish inside his pot..)
Tiger shark!
For our last evening we were joined by my sister and her daughter, Bea – a much-loved cousin, who were just starting their holiday as we were ending ours.
Sitting on the wall, saying goodbye and waiting for the bus to take us to town – the first stage of the long journey home.
It was a fabulous holiday – and all those concerns we went out with based on the reports in the UK media were totally unfounded – Greece is staggeringly beautiful country with so much to offer in terms of beach, food, hospitality, history and more besides. Now they need all the tourists they can get – if you get the chance, go! – it really is the garden of the Gods.
Laters, Kate x
Maison Bentley Style 