Let's turn this brown thumb green...

Avocado sputnik!

I am not a gardener by any means. I've tried, I've failed and quite frankly how I have managed to keep two children relatively healthy and well is beyond me. I can barely even keep a blog going, as you have seen!
However, since my recent avocado pit success (well, it's started to sprout anyway) I've quite fancied growing some more things, hopefully to keep Harper amused at the very least... It hasn't kept her amused so it backfired, but the thought was there.

Tomato plant with real life
actual tomatoes!

So to the garden centre we went and purchased some tomato plant seeds and strawberry plant seeds and they have GROWN! Actual plants that have grown on my windowsill in the kitchen, the tomato plant is even growing some tomatoes at this point, and I am way more excited than anyone else in this house let me tell you!
We also have some garlic planted at the moment and it's starting to grow leaves, and I may or may not have totally cheated and bought a basil plant all ready to go. Harper thought it was awesome that I cooked dinner with it last night though so I'm glad we didn't wait for that one - Harper isn't the only one here with a short attention span  *ahem* I am super happy with the progress, and I'm hoping that there will be strawberries and tomatoes to eat from the plants really soon - maybe then everyone else will show an interest!

Selfie Clothing Goodies!

As you may (or may not) know, Harper was chosen to be a brand ambassador for Selfie Clothing. After getting a unicorn top to colour in for Christmas, Harper was all about customising her own clothes and we started following their Instagram - when we saw they wanted reps of course we entered because, hey, free goodies, who doesn't like free goodies?! Especially ones you know your kids will absolutely love. We got ours on Thursday just before we went to Port Lympne, and she periodically mentioned colouring in her top at home that "Has my NAME on it Mummy!" (she was mega excited about that part) and she read me all the letters whilst exclaiming "See! See! It says 'arper!" So with the excitement of her pharmacy and dinosaur adventure out of the way, we set up in the hallway (away from sleeping baby sisters) with our 6 fabric markers and got to work. She concentrated pretty hard for a good 20 minutes (anyone with a 4 year old knows that's pretty good) until she wandered off for a bit, but she kept coming back to do more, and bit-by-bit it started to take shape. We made a stop motion video of the progression, but the main thing that got me was the way she not only was really invested in finishing her top, but the way that even when she got bored of doing it, she would come back to do more as and when within a few hours, this wasn't an activity that she just left for me to finish, in fact, I was only allowed to help her with the bare minimum if she wanted to do something that she felt she couldn't do herself - she directed me how she wanted certain parts coloured and took real pride on the finished product. The only problem for us with our goodies is that we had to roll the sleeves somewhat - she got age 4, but she is quite a small 4 year old, and it was a tad large on her, a 3 would have probably fit her quite nicely instead. Still, room to grow, right, she gets to wear it for longer!  The quality of the actual fabric is gorgeous, it's buttery soft and I would imagine totally comfortable to wear.

With the kit you get your T-Shirt, your 6 markers, a practise sheet and some paper to put between the fabric as you colour the top - it is essential that you remember to do that, don't ignore the warning, it will definitely 100% bleed through to the other side! All-in-all it's a brilliant kit, Harper loved doing it, it kept her attention for more than 10 seconds and she's really proud of her creation. I received these goodies for free, but I would absolutely happily pay for them even just to see how proud Harper was of her creation at the end, it was really sweet! If you would like to have a go (I mean, let your kids have a go), click here to go to their website and see what they have to offer, it's more than T-shirts, they have snap backs (which I LOVE, by the way), capes, PJs - all sorts! It's well worth a look, so go check it out!

Mega proud of her Harper top!

Don't forget to put this between the fabric on the T-shirt, or it
WILL go through - as you can see on this paper!

Pharmacy adventures!

Today we went on a pharmacy adventure, by that, of course, I mean a safari adventure. Harper insists that I am wrong however, and honestly who am I to correct her? What was originally meant to be a day out  to see the giraffes, rhinos, gorillas and tigers turned into something much more... Prehistoric though. A new interest has been born - DINOSAURS.
At Port Lympne Zoo, you arrive and you go through the entrace, through the gift shop (that of course you also exit through), and go to basecamp, where you are picked up by a safari truck and driven through various zones to see lots and lots of animals - we saw giraffes, rhino, a cheetah, zebras, and lots of deer-type animals (the engine was so loud I couldn't hear what the man was saying, so I missed their names) running around quite happily, Harper was absolutely enthralled, squealing with excitement as the giraffes passed by, and spotting animals in the distance - she was one of the first to point out the ostrich and his chicks, and she felt very clever to know what an ostrich was. When you get off the truck, you have quite a walk ahead of you, but you come out, walk up a little to where the toilets are, and opposite is the dinosaur forest, which basically goes around in a loop and you learn about loads of different dinosaurs. There are some hiding in the bushes and you have to have a good look for them. As we walked around (in the rain) Harper was super excited about spotting them all, and reading (being read to, anyway) about them, learning their names, what their names meant and where they lived on the planet, and when ("not now Mummy? There aren't any dinosaurs around now?" was quite a concern apparently - she didn't want to get eaten by a T-Rex). We had a totally wonderful time, but a word of warning - if you baby wear, you might be best sticking with a carrier, we had to drop the buggy off, and while there are umbrella buggies that you can pick up for free after the safari experience, with little-little ones it would definitely be easier to just take the carrier too. We had a great day, and while of course it wasn't a particularly 10-month-old kind of day out, it was right up Harper's street, and Sylvie definitely didn't mind that Harper insisted she also get a stuffed dinosaur, to be "fair." All in all, it was a great day out, and Harper is now interested in something that doesn't have wheels, which can only be a bonus!

"Keep your face always towards the sunshine and the shadows will fall behind you."

I've had a rough few weeks, possibly even just had a rough month, hence the lack of posts. I've struggled with my anxiety and depression, I've been tearful and I've found it incredibly hard to find the joy, even in things that normally leave me elated.
I'm generally quite transparent with my mental health but it just took a bit of a knock lately and I've felt somewhat... reclusive. I haven't wanted to be transparent, I wanted to close myself off and stay away from the world, I just wanted to be with my girls, I didn't want to be a burden to anyone else because I felt like I was burden enough to them. I've struggled to find things to write about, or frankly, absolutely have not had the will to write about anything. The limited time that I've had to feel good I've spent with my girls, just trying to enjoy them as they grow in front of my eyes. I haven't really documented much in the form of pictures which is something I really enjoy and feel strongly about - I will have so much to look back on when they're older, I will have so many stories to tell them about the adventures we went on and things and I can't help but feel that these little dark periods where I struggle is setting that back in a big way.
But then the sun came out, and almost instantly, like a little plant I perked up. I started to feel a bit more positive, I started to think about things to do, where we can go, things we can do OUTSIDE. I started to look forward to things again - this time last week I wasn't excited about even my birthday, and birthdays are a big deal in our family! Now, I can't wait, we have a day in the park planned and I'm going shopping with my mum.
So in the past few days we've gone out and about, cost ourselves a fortune in petrol, but have two tired and contented kids and a very tired, but much more whole set of parents, and a mama who is a lot lot less tense. It's amazing what the weather can do!
My beautiful girls have been to the forest for a dog walk with their Nanny, to the pub for a play in the sunshine (and mummy may have had a cheeky little cider...), to the splash park with their Grandad, and played in the garden in the water-filled tuff tray, much to Sylvie's delight! It's been so lovely and so freeing to enjoy things properly again, and it's really lifted my spirits.

The Busiest of bees!

Where do I even start? Since horse riding we've had school place decisions, illness, arcade trips, crafting, sunshine, working and we have an exciting thing happening soon that I will probably reveal in my next post.
For anyone that follows my Instagram, you'll have noticed that I am a little better at updating on there, it's just so easy to update as you go along, I don't find a lot of time at the moment to just sit down and write it all down.
We found out where Harper will be going to school in September, which was a big step, we got our second choice and so did her bestest friend so she's over the moon, so by extension, so are we! It's a big school for round here, with 3 classes per year and she is very small for her age so I was initially quite worried about it, but what she lacks in physical size, she more than makes up in personality and confidence, so she won't care - and I'm trying not to either! By nature I'm a worry wart so the very fact that she's going to be staying somewhere all day for 5 days a week without me is a big deal and I am ever so slightly having a crisis over it, but what's new? Hello anxiety, my old friend I guess! she's happy to go to big school, she's excited and who am I to rain on her parade with my worries, so I'm excited for her too, it'll be a big adventure.
We had some unexpected sunshine last week too, which led to us having a picnic in the glorious weather, and oh how things have changed this week, it's bloody miserable! I hope that's not the end of summer for us!
I promise I will keep up with this more from now on, it's just been hectic lately - more good things coming our way though, I've got a good feeling!

Horsing around

Looking the part!

My mum is a keen horse rider, so as soon as Harper started showing an interest I think a little light bulb went on in her head and she started looking for little-horse related things.
She found a tiny-tots easter holiday own a pony type of thing for a few hours yesterday, including an egg-hunt on horseback (well, very-little-pony-back), with the hat and boot hire included, and Harper had an amazing time, she had some time grooming a pony, she got taught which brushes were for what, and how to be safe around horses legs which took a good half an hour or so, and then the kids were all helped up onto a pony and walked out on a lead rein to search for chocolate eggs (2 each). Harper enjoyed it so much and has talked non-stop about  riding horses like Nanny ever since.

Grooming Ginger

Patting Star (the tiniest horse for the tiniest kid!)

The grin says it all!

Chocolate Overload & Time Travel

Easter Sunday recently means there's been an abundance of chocolate in the house. I mean, even I am sick of the sight of it to be honest and I have the biggest sweet tooth going. It's a lot.
As lovely as having dinner at my Mum's and going to parties all weekend and having the chocolate was at first, the resulting tantrums and grumpy baby after eating chocolate has been... challenging. It all got to be a little bit too exciting for the girls and measures had to be taken. We're not even remotely religious, but it's like a warmer version of Christmas, with chocolate instead of presents at this point, so I just go with it.

So I've hidden it, and instead of giving chocolate sparingly when asked, I've taken to distraction - for example, today, we've learned some Karate which has cheered Harper up and Sylvie has found the banging, crashing and running around. We needed the cheering up because Sylvie was up all night, Daddy's a grump, Mummy had to get up for work at 4am and the only one not affected by the sleeplessness was Harper. A well rested 4-year-old and a tired household is not often a good mix, but we make do!
We're muddling along until the weekend, I've had to have my shift covered at work because the Mr's making a trip down to Devon to visit his parents on a cheer-up mission, so we're going to go exploring, we're going to strap on a carrier, get a bus ticket, take the bike and find something to see, maybe some puddles, maybe some seashells it all depends on the weather! I will wear the biggest out!
With work and tiredness it's difficult to keep up with what's what, even more difficult to capture moments like I used to be able to, so keeping on top of everything right now is a struggle, but as ever, we keep on, the kid's are fed, the family are loved and clothed and cared for and we get on with another day. I thought time with Harper went fast, it feels like someone's doubled the fast forward since having Sylvie, they say the days are long but the years are short, but right now the days flick by in minutes and merge into one.

If I say 'stop the world I want to get off' loud enough do you think time will slow down a bit? It's all getting a bit Doctor Who in our household, because I swear Harper was only born a week ago? How did she turn 4, how is Sylvie nearly 9 months old already?!