me and mine {april}

Daddy is loving…

* seeing the children enjoy a ride on the steam train.

* going to Auntie Ann's farm.

* eating Easter egg for breakfast on Easter Sunday.

* Game of Thrones being back on the television.

* the beautiful girl learning more and more words.

Mummy is loving…

* walks through the bluebell woods.

* the excitement on the children's faces on their Easter egg hunt.

* playing in the rapeseed fields.

* dancing her heart out at show rehearsals.

* days spent exploring on the farm in Wales.

The beautiful boy is loving…

* riding on the Talyllyn steam railway.

* his newest soft toys: Grayson the bunny and Fred the bear.

* Doris the pig.

* Easter egg hunting.

* helping in the kitchen.

The beautiful girl is loving…

* saying "magical".

* finding little chocolates hidden inside plastic eggs.

* snuggling up with Posy.

* being chased by her brother.

* bluebells.

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out of the mouths of babes {april}

Mummy: "What ARE you doing?"

beautiful boy: "I'm being a bit mental."

as we pulled into a motorway services:

"We've made it to the weewee station we have."

Princess Anna: "Can I say something crazy?"

Prince Hans: "I love crazy."

beautiful boy: "I love crazy too."

beautiful boy: "I am going to go to Hong Kong."

Mummy: "No you're not sweetheart. Nanny and Pops are going to Hong Kong."

beautiful boy: "No, I am. And I'm going to swim all the way."

after doing a wee...

Mummy: "Right, now shake."

beautiful boy: "Shake it off, shake it off,

shake it off, shake it off,

oh woah oh,

shake it off, shake it off,

shake it off, shake it off,

oh woah oh,

and it's hard to dance

with the devil on your back,

so shake it off,

oh woah oh."

(He's clearly a Florence and The Machine fan. He sings this every. single. time he goes for a wee.)

beautiful boy: "There. I ate my cracker. Can I have a Pringle now?"

Mummy: "No. I said you had to eat ALL of the cracker. You've only eaten one bite."

beautiful boy: "But I really want a Pringle."

Mummy: "Well then you need to eat all of your cracker."

beautiful boy: "No I don't need to. Because I don't want to."

Mummy: "Well then there will be no Pringle will there?"

beautiful boy: "URGH! You are getting on my nerves now Mummy."

Daddy: "Do you want to go to Nanny and Pops' or come to the pub with me?"

beautiful boy: "What's a pub?"

Mummy: "It somewhere where Daddy will drink beer and hang with his friends."

beautiful boy: "I want to hang with Daddy."

Daddy: "What would you like to watch on the Xbox?"

beautiful boy: "Nothing. We are sleeping. And boys can't sleep if they're watching Xbox."

Daddy: "Oh okay then. I'll watch what I want to then."

beautiful boy: "No Daddy. We need it off so we can sleep in quiet and peace."

"It's slippery, slimey soap Mummy, so I'm going to call it sloap."

8

bluebell days

I absolutely love bluebells.

And anyone who has been following this blog for a while

will know that popping along to the bluebell woods

is a scheduled in part of Dear Beautiful spring times.

21

him and her {week seventeen}

he will do anything to make his little sister laugh,

thinks wearing bunny ears and searching for eggs is the best fun ever,

and is such a gentle and kind little man.

she says that everything is "magical",

gets the most amazing twinkle in her eyes at the sight of chocolate,

and simply loves cuddling her bedtime soft toys.

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{little easter moments} egg hunting

The excitement surround our egg hunt this year was fantastic,

the beautiful boy completely grasped the idea 

that the easter bunny had left some eggs for them to find

and he couldn't wait to hunt for them.

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{little easter moments} easter baskets

We had such a beautiful Easter weekend.

We all enjoyed some much needed quiet time together,

and the children enjoyed the little Easter activities we planned for them.

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our welsh adventure

music credit: Wake Me Up by Avicii

One of our highlights of spring time 

is a trip to 'the farm'.

Ever since my husband and I got together

a trip to his aunt and uncle's farm in Wales

has been a feature of Easter time,

and we absolutely love it there.

Last year we didn't manage a visit,

because sharing a bedroom with a six month old who didn't sleep

and a light sleeping two year old seemed like a recipe for disaster.

But this year, with older children

who are very used to sharing a bedroom,

we were really looking forward to going

and seeing all the animals,

and some of the family too of course.

It didn't disappoint.

Our little man has asked repeatedly ever since we got home

whether we can go back to the farm soon to see his friend Auntie Ann.

And he likes talking about Doris the pig to anyone who asks how his trip away was.

Our little miss spent the entire time with her eyes wide with excitement

as she well and truly charmed everyone she met.

With lots of animals,

a good dose of sunshine, 

plenty of doting family members,

and stunning scenery

you can't go wrong really.

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nineteen months new

You were such a funny and cheeky little thing.

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me and you {april}

Life isn't perfect.

Relationships aren't perfect.

Marriage isn't perfect.

But that's the way they are supposed to be.

And so in keeping with perfect imperfections

we have a far from perfect photo for this month.

It could have been such a cute one too,

if my camera remote wasn't misbehaving,

and if we weren't on a serious time limit,

as two small children were running away behind us at great speed.

But do you know what?

I really like it,

because we had fun.

And that is exactly why I wanted to do Me and You

and make an effort to take a monthly photo of us,

to give us silly, simple opportunities to do something together.

Because doing silly, simple things together is what makes us, us.

We don't have far fetched dreams,

we have real ones.

About our own happy ever afters,

and making beautiful memories.

Not far fetched,

but not to be knocked either.

Because I'm pretty sure that when we are old and grey

(or should that be greyer Mr R)

we'll look back at these photos

and know what we had the best dreams all along,

and that we had lots of fun making them come true.

15

him and her {week sixteen}

he has a funny sense of humour

and an answer for everything,

and is completely bonkers at times, while incredibly logical and grown up at others.

she has become a total mimic overnight

and is suddenly saying all sorts of different words,

and she is simply the most adorable, charming and sweet little girl ever.

10

seasidy days

music credit: Dog Days Are Over by Florence and the Machine

I've always loved being at the coast,

there is something about the air,

the fact the sky always seems so big,

the sound of water,

and the feel of sand;

it's just good for the soul.

Especially on spring days,

when a very blustery day by the water,

can quite literally blow the cobwebs away

and leave you with muddy clothes,

windswept hair

and a really big smile.


If you would like to see more of our videos
you can see them all on our movie page.

26

him and her {week fifteen}

he is having lovely lay ins thanks to his new clock,

is utterly obsessed with his new clock and telling everyone what time it is,

and has the cutest little singing voice,

especially when he's singing Frozen duets with Mummy.

she loves muddy puddles,

will try and climb absolutely anything,

has the cheekiest face ever when she's being naughty,

and looks simply adorable snuggling with her soft toys at bedtime.

19

siblings {april}

The thing that I love most about watching my two together,
is how they bring out each other's adventurous streak.
They just love a good explore side-by-side.

It amazes me how much they seem to communicate with one another
without using words,
as they investigate the world around them.
Side way glances, the occasional brush of arms,
cheeky smiles and laughs of encouragement
seem to be all they need when they are together.

She will look at him for approval
with eyes full of nothing but hero worship,
and he will look out for her,
always making sure she's close by
and not doing anything she shouldn't be.

It's thrilling to think of the adventures they'll share as they grow up,
and how their childhood memories
will be so tightly tied to one another.

Increasingly, as they play together more and more,
I see the beginnings of a gang of two
which has nothing whatsoever to do with me.
There will be adventures in their futures that not only will I not be a part of,
but that I won't even know about.
Secret moments that just the two of them will share.

And funnily enough, that excites me.
I love that they will have that,
and that they'll get to learn about the world hand in hand.

66

pictures in frames

I kind of feel like,

at this point,

saying "I take a lot of photos"

is kind of stating the obvious.

I am never far from my camera,

and it's extremely rare I go a day without snapping something.

But despite my obsession with capturing our memories,

I am shamefully bad at printing, framing, and otherwise displaying those photos.

5

him and her {week fourteen}

he loves singing along to his favourite songs in the car,

thinks it's hilarious to call a pigeon an ostrich,

and will never say no to rice krispie crunch.

she is so incredibly happy playing in her own company,

will scrunch up her nose when she smiles at you,

and hates riding in trollies at the supermarket.

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