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.

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?!

Adventures with Frogspawn

Source: samarawheeldonphotography.com.au/

One of Harper's teachers from pre-school posted this on their Facebook page after a little boy took some frogspawn in to show everyone - and that was it, a spark ignited in the Harper's brain and we absolutely HAD TO go and find some frogspawn and watch it grow. Great. I really need smelly pond-water in my house, of course.
But I obliged and off we went to where this little boy found the frogspawn, we were warned 'you will NEED wellies!' Did I listen? No. I did not listen, we went straight after preschool in her lovely shiny school shoes. I regretted it immediately and now I have a pair of school shoes to run under a tap. Part of the fun though...I think?
Unfortunately, despite the perfect muddy shallow water conditions, no  frogspawn was to be found, so with a disappointed Harper we left to go home, have dinner and have a bath. But the call of the frog's life-cycle was too strong and she relentlessly asked when we might go somewhere else to find some. So, the next day, we set off for a park a little further away, certain that there would be some there... Despite knowing that the pond smells particularly awful. Lucky me, we found some, in that bog of eternal stench, we found 'SO MUCH!!' frogspawn and dutifully I collected some up for her to look at properly. For those who don't remember doing this in their childhood (I remember doing it once and I loved it) frogspawn is revolting, and sticky?? But Harper was happy so carefully-carefully I carried it on my lap in the car on the way home. Not carefully enough, I got smelly pond water on my trousers because we have pot-holes that could engulf our little car in our roads but STILL, Harper was happy. She kept a diligent watch over them for a while and then went off to play with her cars and seemingly forgot about them for the rest of the day, and so did I. That was until bedtime, when we heard a screech of excitement 'THE DOTS ARE BLOBS MUMMY!' wondering what on earth she was talking about I followed the excited squeals to find her peering into the spawn-container to see that what were once dots in the middle of the masses of jelly-eggs were indeed now blobs.

Imagine the squeal that we got the day after when one or two of them were in the process of hatching! They were on their little way, wiggling out of their eggs and sticking to the outside of them instead.
As sceptical as I was about them, and their smelly pond-water, I have to say with each change it gets a little more exciting and I remember how much I loved seeing the tadpoles change when I was a kid. Seeing her get so excited every time she looks into the container (as they seem to be developing very very quickly, which is holding Harper's attention brilliantly!) is great fun, she's learning about how eggs work and how tadpoles change and grow and it's fun to watch. I'm looking forward to seeing how quickly we'll need to return our little froglets to their pond!