Currently viewing the tag: "children"
On Saturday afternoon we spent a few precious hours in my mum’s garden. I love visiting my mum’s house, it is a little sanctuary for me. First and foremost my mum is always there offering a warm cuddle, a cup of tea and a chat. Then there is the house, a treasure trove of special finds. A glance over the latest antique book/pottery/painting she has found always inspires me. When the sun shines we are mostly drawn outside into the country cottage garden which is brimming with roses, stocks, lavender, honeysuckle and peonies calling us to come and play.
I stopped to smell one of the beautiful roses that drooped down heavy with an excess of petals. The sweet scent filled my nose and I was almost instantly transported back to being a child. This is the smell of my childhood. I adored being in the garden surrounded by nature and would while away hours hanging from the top bar of my swing by my feet like a bat. I think I often played with rose petals hence the nostalgia brought on by the smell. I suggested to Littlelish that we could do the same, would she like to make a flowery perfume? And that was it, she was off and busy for hours making a beautiful heady concoction (not sure I will be swapping my fragrance for it any time soon but hey).
How to make a ‘flower’ perfume
You will need
- One obliging granny with a garden full of flowers
- Handful of flower petals, the smellier the better (lavender, roses, honeysuckle)
- A bowl or a tub to mix your creation
- Water to add as required
- A spoon, fork or masher or all 3 to stamp your perfume to perfection
- A bottle or jar to save your perfume in (please note although the perfume may smell wonderful – ours did! I do not recommend actually using this as a perfume)
Enjoy!
I’ve got some exciting news! Something that I’ve been desperate to share with you all these past weeks. The amazing team at Wilderness are offering a family ticket to their award winning art and outdoors festival to one of my lucky readers (you!).
The Wilderness festival is the quintessential weekend for the free-spirited festival lover and is held at Cornbury Park in Oxfordshire on the 10-12th August 2012 . You’re free? Oh great!
The festival brings together music, food, theatre, talks and debates, cinematic happenings, late night parties, wellbeing and the great outdoors. Have you seen how utterly gorgeous and magical it looks?
I know, I know! It is inspired. Here is the official musical line up:
RODRIGO Y GABRIELA performing with C.U.B.A, WILCO, SPIRITUALIZED, SHARON JONES AND THE DAP-KINGS, THE TEMPER TRAP, CRYSTAL FIGHTERS, STORNOWAY, BENJAMIN FRANCIS LEFTWICH, LIANNE LA HAVAS, CLOUD CONTROL, GIANT GIANT SAND, GRANT LEE BUFFALO, JENNY O, FIELD MUSIC, FATOUMATA DIAWARA, MILAGRES, TO KILL A KING, JAKE BUGG, LONDON FOLK GUILD. Eeeeeek!
You can find out everything Wilderness has to offer over at their gorgeous site www.wildernessfestival.com (how stunning illustrations are those illustrations btw?)
This competition is to win a family ticket (2 adults, 2 children and camping worth £260!) and they’ve got some absolutely amazing things on for families. In fact it’s been hailed as the ultimate children’s festival experience, so let’s find out what’s happening for the little loves of our lives shall we?
The team at Wilderness explain “We want to ensure that everyone attending Wilderness, no matter what age, can enjoy the unique offerings we have across the weekend. Our curators have raised the bar this year to create the phenomenal ‘Little Wild Ones’ area that will have all kinds of activities for kids. Wilderness will have opportunities for everyone to take part in something that they wouldn’t normally have the chance to experience, and for us that’s key.” Sounds good!
Embracing the Wilderness spirit, the ‘Little Wild Ones’ area will be a hive of inspired children’s activity. The Flying Seagull Project returns with a range of entertainment based in a beautiful gypsy-esque, open-sided pavilion tent, complete with vintage horsebox and Willy Wonka style stage. Kids can also discover the magic of nature with a rainbow trail led by the Fairyland Trust. Families will embark on a fascinating journey as they enter a wonderful land of fairy folklore and natural history.
Let their imaginations run wild with a host of spectacular activities and workshops including jewellery making with Amy Surman, a Socktopus puppet workshop, which promotes creative recycling and will hold a dancing parade on the final day, and Witchwood School of Rock – the biggest little rock school in the world. The ‘Little Wild Ones’ also welcomes Hartbeeps – a unique blend of original music workshops and mini productions in this interactive experience.
The fabulous Bushcraft Company will be delivering their outdoor adventures influenced by nature, where children will be able to learn bushcraft skills from lighting fires to woodland playing games, shelter building and carving techniques. They’ll also be offering a twist on babysitting with an exclusive kids-only overnight camp where parents can drop their children off at 5pm for them to enjoy a night of walks, games, campfires and cooking with experienced Bushcraft staff. They’ll be back to meet their parents by 11am the next morning – a treat for both children and mums and dads.
Are you sitting comfortably? The Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre will take adults and children on a trip to the author’s mythical world with poems from ‘Revolting Rhymes’ and ‘Dirty Beasts’, and continuing with the literary theme, enjoy live storytelling music, arts and crafts and yoga from Barefoot Books.
The ‘Pop-up Garden’ will ensure all the family get green-fingered with hands-on knowledge of gardening, the Kite Studio will offer creative clay and print making workshops and Meet the Species returns to Wilderness to engage children with the environment around them, as they identify species in and around the site.
Wilderness is also pleased to welcome Tea Potty Shed with the T Potty ladies and their old-fashioned sweet shop. Children can learn how to weigh out sweets and count out pennies in return for some tasty treats. Also across the festival weekend families can spend some time together and take part in drumming, storytelling, face painting, fairy crown making, cinema, pottery and hula-hooping.
As you would expect at a festival, the fun doesn’t stop when the sun goes down! Let the stars guide you on an enchanting woodland fairy trail, filled with beautiful secret fairy houses and the mesmerising Fairy Queen, who will tell old tales of ancient folk law about the nature that surrounds.
And if this isn’t enough for you there will be family friendly entertainment from the Suitcase Cabaret who will host an army of brilliance from comedy to music and activities including, horse riding, fly-fishing, Zumba! classes and Guerilla Geography available across the festival site. Wilderness also welcomes back The Bearded Kittens to host the famous ‘Not Your Average’ cricket match on the lawn, complete with lashings of Pimms and piles of cucumber sandwiches (ooooh Pimms!), and Future Cinema make their Wilderness debut with a Bugsy Malone takeover complete with a massive splurge fight.
Ok so let’s recap, we have fairy queens, splurge fights, horse riding, old fashioned sweets, art activities, bushcraft skills, Roal Dahl stories, rock workshops. I totally agree this does sounds like the Ultimate festival for children and who am I kidding… for me too!
Imaginative, enchanting, creative, fun and wild. We want to go! What are you waiting for? All you need to do to enter is follow the instructions on the Rafflecopter below! Good luck!
As the eternal optimist I am still waiting for summer to come… it is coming, isn’t it? I’m holding out for the fact we’ve still got July and August to get our fill of fun in the sun… bbq’s with friends, strawberry picking and summer festivals!!
This year we are heading off to Shambala festival (23 – 27th August bank holiday) as a family and we cannot wait. We are really keen now that Littlelish is nearly 3 to take her to family friendly festival, to soak up some music, culture and community vibes and after a little research it seems Shambala is the perfect festival for us.
Originally created as “a place to party, free your mind, lose your heart, learn, discuss and be inspired and see what is achievable as a community” it has the hippy in me screaming “Yes!”. Set in a secret rural location in Northamptonshire the festival is independent with a focus on sustainability, community and creativity!
“Pioneering, intimate and truly innovative Shambala Festival has perfectly blended creativity and participation for well over a decade. Shambala is a special place where you play, revitalise, make lots of new friends and return to the world fuelled-up on the beauty of being alive. As well as being known as a “legendary party”, it is also a haven for cutting edge theatrics and performance, a think-tank of ideas, and an award winning green event.”
Well I was sold at that, what about you? No, well there is more, much more…
In fact there is so much going on I can barely contain my excitement. I am going to get my whole years culture fix! With over 200 bands performing (all genres of music from Reggae to Folk), comedy, theatre, circus, film, open air art, dance and craft workshops I don’t think we are going to struggle for something to do! We are going to be well and truly spoiled for choice.
And all of this set in the most beautiful natural surroundings with compost toilets, free showers and a special family friendly campsite!
As this will be our first ever festival with Littlelish we are happy that the people at Shambala really seem to have thought about families. According to their website (which is fantastic and full of information btw) they have there very own kids field full of excitement for little monkeys. Art activities, action packed fun – circus skills, trampolines etc and entertainment in the form of music, circus shows and comedy for kids.
As well as this they even have an early years workshop tent tailored to the 3-5yr olds, a special kids cafe and sandpits and climbing areas throughout the festival ground. Plus when you’ve had a busy day exhausting every possibility Shambala has to offer you can settle down for a bedtime story in the Family Camping Yurt – I love it! It really sounds like they have thought of everything and we cannot wait to put it to the test.
So if you hadn’t heard of Shambala what are you waiting for? There are still some tickets left and they have extended the deal to pay 50% now and 50% on August the 1st until June 14th (not long now folks!). Tickets cost £119 for adults for the weekend, teens (15,16,17 ) £79, Children (5-14) £29 and children under 4 – FREE!
We cannot wait to report back to you on just how much fun it was but why not come and see for yourselves? Let us know if you are planning on visiting Shambala :)
Last Thursday we excitedly packed our suitcases into the car, the sun was already shining, bringing with it promises of an awesome couple of days. We were heading off to Holland to attend the wedding of the year and visit dear friends and family, perfect I hear you cry! The plane journey passed without a worry and before we could blink we’d touched down in Amsterdam. Glorious sunshine met us as the plane door opened and we relished that holiday feeling.
5 minutes into the car journey there were signs of trouble in paradise. Yes my lovely followers we had brought the tummy bug with us. A heavy night of vomiting and “melty poo” as Littlelish fondly calls it, followed. By 6am the following morning we were traipsing to the emergency doctors. Poor little mite couldn’t keep anything down, she was floppy, weak and miserable. She was rushed to hospital where they took blood from her several times (attempt 1 (fail) in arm, attempt 2 (fail) in other arm, attempt 3 (successful) in hand plus from her finger tips 3 times! Bless) before giving her fluids through a tube in her nose (awful!). It was honestly one of the worst days of my life. Daddylish and I reassured her everything was going to be ok but the way she looked at us as if to say “Why are you letting them do this to me”? was truly heartbreaking. We tried our very hardest to stay strong for her, I even tried to take her away from the hospital room by talking her through a visualisation which actually worked really well. We weren’t in the hospital having every last bit of blood squeezed from our finger, we were in our sunny garden, picking buttercups and hunting for ladybirds… if only. Littlelish has a fantastic imagination and she was momentarily transported which it made it a little more bearable. She spent the rest of the day sleeping in her hospital bed with Daddylish and I watching over her nervously. Once her sugar levels were stable and she was rehydrated (9pm) we were free to go. We breathed a huge sigh of relief.
Littlelish bounced back at record speed and by the next morning she was bright enough for us to attempt the wedding…. and what a wedding! Bright sunshine, picturesque church on a hill, beautiful shining bride, ultra cool groom, cute flowergirls throwing petals (Littlelishs very important job), gospel choir belting out “if I ain’t got you”. Then back to an outdoor festival themed party in the most stunning garden complete with open air dance floor, outside food areas where you could pick up your own homemade pizza or wok creation, chill out area with bean bags and hammocks. It was a perfectly cool wedding where every last detail had been thought out with style. We enjoyed the informality and despite our set back the previous day we had lots of fun celebrating!
The next day it was time to catch up with friends. By this time Daddylish had fallen ill and was bedridden so Littlelish and I ventured off to the famous Vondelpark on bikes with our friends and their children. We picnicked in the sunshine, we blew bubbles, we used a magnifying glass to write the children’s names in wood. We soaked up Amsterdam’s unique cosmopolitan, relaxed, creative vibe. The evening was spent sharing a glass of wine and a pizza with some more close friends. The perfect end to a perfect summers day.
So really a weekend of two halves, on one hand it was amazing to be at the wedding of the year, soak up the Amsterdam vibe, spend time with friends and family but we could have done without the detour to the hospital and Daddlylish being in bed ill all weekend…. and now to top it all off. Yup you’ve guess it, hellooooooo tummy bug.
I’ve been much more conscious about the food that I choose to eat and feed my family since having littlelish. My body is my temple and all :) As well as eating fresh, organic produce, I also have a preference for organic toiletries for her. I’ve often deliberated over the idea of buying organic toothpaste but for some reason I have never really followed through with it. I guess I was a little stuck on the fence as to whether it would clean as well as normal toothpaste does. I’ve also never really seen it for sale in the supermarket to even put it to the test. So when the lovely lady at Green People offered for us to sample their products we jumped at the chance to try their toothpastes!
They sent us 2 certified organic toothpastes (EcoCert) made especially for children. The toothpaste does not include any Sodium Lauryl Sulphate (SLS), Fluoride, Triclosan, Sorbitol, Parabens, Phthalates, artificial sweeteners, petrochemicals or colourants all which are found in normal toothpaste. For those who aren’t in the know, it is very interesting to google the list above for more information. I did and was rather shocked! I’m now rethinking all our toiletries, not just the ones for littlelish! The toothpastes are made from calcium carbonate which gently cleans and removes plaque while using Vitamin C and Myrrh to fight gum disease and Aloe Vera as an antiseptic.
We were kindly sent both the spearmint and the mandarin flavour. We made the mistake of trying the mandarin one first and I’m afraid to say the minty one hasn’t had a look in yet. Well actually I tried it and it was lovely :) The mandarin one is perfect for little ones as it is not too sweet but just sweet enough to have absolutely no complaints about teeth brushing. She loves the fact that she can take the cap off herself and that it isn’t a bright white colour but rather an off white (she has always been obsessed with shades of colours a bit like her mother!)
I like that fact that although there is no foaming agents in the toothpaste it does bubble up quite nicely and is easy to brush with. Her teeth look lovely and white and her mouth is fresh. All the while I can rest assured she is not swallowing yucky chemicals because let’s face it little ones ALWAYS swallow their toothpaste even if you are stood by imploring them to spit, spit, spit!
The toothpastes are priced at £3.50 for a 50ml tube which is more expensive than a regular toothpaste but really worth it. Not only are all products 100% gentle, vegetarian and cruelty free, Green people also donate 10% of all net profit to health and environmental charities. So you can feel proud you are doing a great thing for your little one as well as a little extra for the planet.
We are excited to see what else they stock. I think we are going to be total Green People converts – keep you posted! You can find more about Green People and their products at www.greenpeople.co.uk or on facebook.
We were asked to review the music CD “The Land of Sometimes“. A mysterious magical musical journey created by Francesca Longrigg.
The CD arrived at the beginning of the week and littlelish was already super excited by the cover and booklet! Oh the joys of having a new CD – I remember that feeling (that’s why I love CD’s). The mini book was beautifully illustrated with fun and imaginative pages corresponding to each of the songs. This helped littlelish to imagine the story as it is being told and she held the book firmly in her hands when her favourite songs were playing.
The story is about 2 children who make a wish to visit the silver line that holds up the sea and outlines the sky…. and as we all know wishes come true! :) The twins are transported to The Land of Sometimes. A magical world where four season pass in one day, home to quirky, hilarious characters.
There is a character and a song to appeal to every child including a slimy river slouch, a mischievous fairy and littlelish’s favourite the pussy cats Holly and George (which we had to replay about 5 times!). Little interludes between the songs carry the story onwards. The CD cleverly uses various genres of music from reggae to New Orleans jazz!
Littlelish particularly liked the funny songs and kept on picking out silly words and rhymes “electric volcano made of cherries and berries, mummy did you hear that? cherries and berries hehehe”.
My little one is only 2.5 years old but the land of sometimes is definitely suitable for all ages. Any child who loves funny, silly, imaginative stories and music will love this CD. I have also just discovered they have a great website www.thelandofsometimes.com where you can find more about the characters and The Land of Sometimes. There are pictures to print off and colour in and best of all LYRICS! (Littlelish kept on asking me to sing along!)
We rate it: 4/5 (upgraded to 5/5 after a week of listening – littlelish loves it and knows all the words!) :)
You can buy The Land of Sometimes on amazon from the 6th February 2012.
Due to a very blustery storm we’ve been pretty much trapped inside today. Despite this it’s been very enjoyable. We’ve played, we’ve read, we’ve got creative.
For D this involved mostly cutting (which she is really good at despite the fact she is left-handed and has right handed scissors!). Cutting gives her endless pleasure, today she cut string, paper, elastic bands, chalk…you name it! I do have to keep an eye on her as the little monkey will literally cut up anything she can find! She has already given several of her teddies a haircut :/
As for me (among other things) I was inspired by a blog I read called www.theimaginationtree.co.uk and made D a little play world for her my little (sea?) ponies. Ok, it isn’t really a scratch on the fab seaside scape from I.tree but with an impatient toddler, it had to be quick. I took a large tray which I covered in tinfoil. I scooped up a handful of shells we collected last week at the beach and added them. I made some very speedy seaweed out of pipecleaners and added some blue “waves”. Last but not least I added some rocks, which turned out to be crucial as D spent a lot of her time acting out a game of hide and seek involving said rocks. She spent at least an hour or two today playing with this “small world” creation and chose to add water and a boat to enhance her game.
And if that wasn’t enough fun for one day. D decided she wanted her face painted as a ladybird (which she of course very quickly smudged hence no picture!). I discovered something though, having your face painted by mummy is fun BUT painting your mummy’s face is SO much more fun! She spent ages painting my face and laughing as she did it. I did have to swallow the urge to say “right that’s enough” as I got a huge splash of wet red paint on my eyelid but oh she was having so much fun and well it washed off (in the end). Not for everyone but if you are stuck for something to do and want to give your child something that they will find really funny. Let them paint your face, it doesn’t hurt. Much!
This Christmas was one of firsts. The first in our new house, the first as aunty and uncle, the first we didn’t eat at my mums. It was also our first Christmas as parents of a child.
D is no longer a baby and at 2 years 4 months old she is growing up. This year she learnt about Santa, the nativity (her baby JoJo was rechristened, Jesus) and what Christmas is all about. Christmas as a mummy then took on a whole new perspective. My number one job was to make sure the magic of Christmas, the magic I have always felt at Christmas time was passed on to her. This was a tall order.
Christmas has always been my favourite time of the year. For me it was never about the presents but the warmth, the family time, the cosiness, the lights and the pretty decorations (I have always been a sucker for anything sparkly). All these things come free don’t they? (well minus the pretty decorations, especially if you love the Gisela Graham ones as much as I do!) It can’t be hard to recreate, can it?
Within a week of moving house, we had decorated the tree together. I say together, little D decorated the bottom layer and I the rest. In among the moving boxes stood a perfect little tree, glistening. We lit the open fire and hung the stockings strategically over the fireplace. That was as far as our decorating would stretch this year. But it felt just a little bit magical. Ok the decoration bit came easy, now for the rest.
And here was where I began to struggle. Santa. How to present the magical man? Tricky stuff. It all started when we saw 2 santas at the bus stop. Try explaining to a curious 2 year old why Santa is taking the bus instead of his magical sleigh and why there are 2 of them. Ugh. I did my best uttering something about some people dressing up as Santa. Was that the right thing to say? God this was hard!
Her first face to face encounter with Santa was eagerly anticipated (I’d obviously done a good job of painting him in a favourable light.) We went to the village party where surely enough Santa appeared through the chimney to deliver presents to the good girls and boys. Little D spent the entire time saying “Santa is it my turn? I’ve been such a good girl” and I spent the entire time worrying they hadn’t added her name to the list as we had just moved in to the village and her dream of Santa would be shattered when he didn’t have a present for her. Luckily he did. Phew. She was thrilled and a huge smile of joy spread all over her little face.
It went a little pear shaped when Santa had finished his work and she wanted to ask him a question. He didn’t hear her and walked away. Disappointed she turned back to me ”Mummy, he didn’t hear me”. I could tell she was thinking, hmmm this Santa doesn’t seem so magical after all. Deaf bastard (that was me thinking that!) Note to self: Do not swear in your blog or insult deaf people (I really didn’t mean it like that, mum) or your hard of hearing mother will complain. When I suggested we could see Santa again the following week she declined the offer, she wasn’t that bothered.
And then there was the presents and my well meaning family asking what we wanted for Christmas, what I was getting for so and so for Christmas, every day in December. Honestly by the 25th I got so sick of my own voice saying “shhhhhhhh you mean SANTA”, “what is SANTA bringing?”, “thank you S.A.N.T.A.” If my parents were as crap at keeping this Santa malarky under wraps as they are now we must have been really, really stupid as kids.
Anyway I think I might have tried too hard. She wasn’t that bothered about Santa. He wasn’t much to write home about. She wasn’t even that bothered that he had bought her lots of presents. It was pretty much a day like every other. As long as she had her family around her, playing with her, chatting with her, cuddling with her and she had something to eat, she was happy. Just like every other day. So I guess the lesson is love, family time and magic is for life, not just for Christmas :)
It’s been a busy few weeks. Actually that is a major understatement. We’ve moved house, welcomed a beautiful new baby (my sisters) all while organising Christmas (wouldn’t it be great if Santa were real?) and keeping life and routines carrying along as normal (ish). This year I decided I’d like to craft some homemade presents more »
It’s been a busy few weeks. Actually that is a major understatement. We’ve moved house, welcomed a beautiful new baby (my sisters) all while organising Christmas (wouldn’t it be great if Santa were real?) and keeping life and routines carrying along as normal (ish). This year I decided I’d like to craft some homemade presents too, I don’t like to make it easy for myself, do I? To honour our first baby boy in the family, Levi Jack Turner, I decided to make a word frame for him full of things that little boys love! What do you think?
This is one of my girly word frames that I made for my daughter a little while ago. I custom make these for little boys and little girls, complete with all the things that they love! A very personalised, fun addition to their room. For more information feel free to send me an email or check out my shop in 2012!
I’m a freelancer in creative marketing with a background in design and styling but when I'm not working I'm doing the most important job in the world, being mummy to my beautiful little girl! I love to create and craft and have a passion for colour and beautiful detail. This blog is all about my life, my amazing daughter, my inspirations and creations!
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