me and mine {february}

Daddy is loving

* riding a boat down the Thames.

* watching the beautiful boy's Tangled show.

* seeing the kids' faces on the London Eye.

* lots of Daddy and kiddos time.

* Lucy's Mexican soup.

Mummy is loving

* little hints at Spring time and more blue sky days.

* a lovely day out for the little man's birthday. 

* her new black skinny jeans.

* spa weekends away with friends.

* swimming.

The beautiful boy is loving

* being four.

* anything to do with London.

* taking part in Tangled holiday workshops.

* talking about his "chums" from preschool. 

* winning..... not so good with losing though.

The beautiful girl is loving

* taking care of everything.

* that her feet reach the foot rests on the seesaw at the park.

* watching videos of herself at BabyBallet classes.

* chocolate eggs in an egg cup after dinner.

* choosing her own hair accessories.

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him and her {week nine}

he thinks all trips to the seaside should involve ice cream,

however cold the weather may be,

and is a total daredevil when it comes to play equipment,

nothing is too big, too high or too scary.

she does her absolute best to lead her brother astray,

would happily sing all day long if she could

and will make up the words to songs if she doesn't know the proper ones,

she's just a little ball of giggles.

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a stroll along the prom {52 adventures}

It's been at least a few weeks now since we last had an adventure involving a nice bit of sea air and water and boats, so with the sunshine coming out to play we went on a lovely adventure to walk along the prom at Maldon.

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90/10 {a little something for him}

There is a long running joke in this house that my husband is 90% man. The other 10% is sometimes labelled as child, or sometimes ape, or sometimes idiot; but he is definitely only 90% grown-up, sensible, human man. And I wouldn't have him any other way. Yes, he can be gross sometimes. And yes, it is sometimes like having another child around to look after. But he's my disgusting big kid. And we all love him to pieces, because when you are still 10% kid, its really easy to get in touch with that part of you, and that makes you really fun.

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him and her {week eight}

he absolutely adored taking part in a Tangled holiday workshop,

was such a sensitive soul looking after a poorly mummy,

and seems to have a total gannet's appetite at the moment.

she has been a really cute and cuddly little thing this week,

thinks that all meals should end with chocolate,

and has finally, finally learned to jump.

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these boots are made for walking

This girly of mine isn't an especially girly girl. She's a bit wild and crazy, she's generally a bit scruffy, she has an amazingly cheeky tomboyish nature to her, and we absolutely love that. But the result is that we don't do the stereotypically girly, pretty thing in this house. Tutu skirts get rocked up with band t-shirts, dresses go with converse trainers... and we like it that way.

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signs of spring {52 adventures}

I am so proud of the fact that this little weekly adventures project has made "adventures" such a big part of our family vocabulary. And this week's adventure was at the children's prompt, their design, their adventure... and I went along for the ride. I could easily have called this post 'park spam' because that is exactly what it is. 

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siblings {february}

I'm going to start by saying how much I love this first photograph. There is something about the way they are sat so close, hands intertwined but looking opposite ways and seeing different things that seems so symbolic of the sibling relationship. Those bonds are tied so deep, and hopefully it won't matter what they do in their lives and where they go, they'll feel that love, tying them together; a little comforting squeeze of the hand, however far apart they may be. 

Sometimes this beautiful duo take my breath away. Observing their relationship is my single biggest joy in life. The simplicity with which they love and accept one another, but can also frustrate and antagonise each other. The way that their biggest smiles and wildest laughs are always with one another. They really are best friends, and while I know that won't always be the case, I do hope with all my heart that something of that closeness is always there between them.

The greatest toy that the pair of them have ever been given is without doubt each other. It never fails to amaze me how they can find fun and enjoyment in the simplest of things... as long as they're together. Together nothing is boring, everything is an adventure. They are partners in crime without a doubt.

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him and her {week seven}

he is four now and making sure everybody knows about it,

has developed a big competitive streak of late and is a bad bad bad loser,

and absolutely loves pretending he's in a band and dancing around the lounge to music.

she seems to be growing before our eyes of late,

and has transformed into a little girl seemingly overnight, 

one who's feet finally reach the footrest on the seesaw, much to her delight.

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a birthday in london {52 adventures}

You only turn four once... so it pays to do it in style. Birthday days out are kind of a family tradition of ours, and we absolutely love them. Nothing quite celebrates a birthday like an adventure with your favourite people. And for the beautiful boy's fourth birthday he had very clear ideas about what he wanted to do to celebrate; he wanted to go to London, he wanted to ride the underground with his Uncle Matt, he wanted to go on a ferris wheel, and he wanted to have lunch at Planet Hollywood. Well we gave him all those things, and we threw in a boat ride and a wander around Docklands in the twilight for good measure.

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mini model

A couple of weeks back our beautiful girl got invited along to be part of a photoshoot for Fred & Noah. She's not ever done anything like that before, but... she is a girl who is used to a camera and doesn't freak out at the sight of one right in her face, so I figured we had nothing to lose. 

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the danceathon

I have danced since I was a teeny little dot. I absolutely love it. I'll dance in the kitchen, in a dance class, in the shower, on the street, in the car... I'm not fussy. But if the groove takes me, I dance. I teach dance, both my children dance, dancing is such a big part of what makes me me.

So a chance to raise money for an amazing cause.... and do a ton of dancing? It was always going to be right up my street. On March 8th, I will be heading to Wembley as part of Team Honk to dance my little socks off for six whole hours to raise money for Comic Relief for all the amazing work that they do. I am unbelievably excited about this!!! It won't be a walk in the park, even with a bit of dance experience, six hours of any kind of physical exercise is going to be tough going, but I'm so excited to be helping to make a difference.

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him and her {week six}

he has been conducting a birthday countdown this week,

is totally blowing us away with his reading,

and loves to dance holding hands with his little sis.

she has been practising her curtsey at every opportunity this week,

sings a hilarious rendition of 'Uptown Funk'

and is starting to want to pick out her out outfits which generally means at least three hair accessories.

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happy fourth birthday beautiful boy

Just like that, you really aren't a baby anymore!

While three could still be considered toddler territory,

four is big boy territory,

and you are so ready to fill those big boy shoes.

Every amazing year seems to fly by

as we pack our days with fun and adventures

and this year has seen to you taking little adventures of your own;

adventures independently of us,

as you've started preschool and classes which are all your own.

You've embraced this opportunities with such excitement and enthusiasm

and words could never really express how very proud you make us.

You are so sensitive and kind,

so hilariously funny and cheeky,

so inquisitive about the world,

so keen to learn,

so polite,

so warm,

so friendly;

and I thank my lucky stars every day

that I get the pleasure of raising you,

and witnessing all the fantastic things you are becoming.

As you turned one, and two, and three,

it made me so emotional to think how far you had come from those baby days,

how far we had come together.

And this year is no different.

Four seems so big.

Four will see you start primary school.

And while you have without a doubt got the energy and personality to absolutely rule at being four,

sometimes I look at you and still see the baby you once were

and just can't believe that we have come so far

and how far your legs are going to take you in life.

You rock my world little man,

and I couldn't be prouder that I get to be your best girl

and your best friend

and your mummy.

Happy fourth birthday beautiful boy.

I love you more.

I love you most.

x x x

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donut days {52 adventures}

This was a real, true, bonafide, genuine adventure. We got in the car, drove to a town we've never visited before, and discovered a little gem. Leigh-On-Sea really isn't terribly far away from us, but yet I've never, in all my years of living in Essex, actually been to visit. Well not anymore. And we will definitely be popping back in the spring or summer, because it is such a charming place. We want to go back and enjoy the beach and the prom, it is all so lovely. 

The weather didn't really want us to have an amazing outdoorsy adventure this week. It was blowing a gale and threatening rain and snow, but luckily I'd spotted somewhere in Leigh-On-Sea that seemed worthy of a visit, a cute little donut place called Los Donuts. So we put the postcode in the satnav and went off adventuring. And it didn't disappoint.

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