Little Mermaids, Lid Potatoes and Little Girl Hairstyles: Little Loves Week 22

Well I'm still here!

Ever hopeful that perhaps I'll miss a week of #LittleLoves due to being in labour or something, I'm afraid to say no news yet. With due date this coming week, its hard not to wish this last week or two away... Which is why #LittleLoves is such a fabulous linky... Asking me focus on the fabulous little things that are happening, rather than the major things which aren't!

So here you have our little loves this week...

Read

I am so loving returning to children's classics with Ava. I think I always wanted a daughter, just for the joy of sharing some of my childhood favourite books with her... And she is drinking in our latest loans from the library. We have had so much fun not only reading Milly-Molly-Mandy, but also bringing some of her experiences to life, as Ava wanted to make cut-out Sailor-men chains one day, just like Milly-Molly-Mandy does, and we have also enjoyed "lid potatoes" for dinner a couple of times... All thanks to our eldest daughter's newest heroine!

We finished Milly-Molly-Mandy last night (we've read three MMM books on the trot!) and are now about to launch into the "Little House" series by Laura Ingalls Wilder... Which are arguably my favourite children's books of all time. I love the simplicity of lifestyle, the thankfulness for the smallest of things and the appreciation of the ordinary...

Watched

Dave and I have been enjoying relaxing these Half Term evenings, and have been catching up on the ITV series "Indian Summers"... We're loving the intrigue and are now 5 episodes in, and I really can't see where it's going to go next! Absolutely loving it! (It's on ITV player if you want to check it out!)

Listened

This little lady and her renditions of every Disney song under the sun. She makes us giggle as every performance is so dramatic too. Facial expressions, gestures and body language... All come together to tell the story of a mermaid longing for her freedom (below was her rendition of "Part of that World")... Anyone else think we have an actress in the making?! (No idea where she gets the dramatics from *cough*)

Wore

I've been having so much fun with the girls hair styles and keep kicking myself that I don't get pictures of them when they're freshly done. They are typical 2 and 3 year olds, so the hair looks good for about an hour, but hey... It's good fun. Heidi has recently been sporting a lot of French plaits, and Ava's been  donning a Dutch braid (unfortunately you are seeing the wrong side of her head here)... I'm making the most of doing pretty, time-consuming hairstyles on the girls now, because I know the minute this baby arrives, it'll be back to plain old pigtails!

My hair, on the other hand, remains decidedly boring... I have tried and tried but I cannot French plait my own hair... Any tips?!

Made

Well, aside from making a variety of plaits this week, we had fun making daisy chains too... One of those therapeutic, little-girl activities that you never grow out of!

And lastly...

We have thoroughly enjoyed the garden this week. The gorgeous sunshine has meant the girls have been out making picnics from their Hütte, riding their trikes and bikes up and down the lawn, attempting to break and enter the shed, jumping in and out of the paddling pool, practicing their tennis skills and putting on shows for us. We, on the other hand, have been getting the garden into shape ready for the summer, and making it as low-maintenance as possible - let's be honest, it's probably going to be pretty neglected this year... But the pots are now done, the lawn is mowed, beds are weeded and its looking pretty good. We're just ready to sit out and enjoy it, and of course the weather is turning - typical!

So we've got lots of clearing up, tidying up and bits and bobs done this week and we're pretty ready now for our new arrival.

I'm hoping I'll not make it next week...

... Though I think that's possibly wishful thinking!

What have your little loves been this week?

Dopplers, Dramas and gorgeous Gucci...Little Loves Week 21

It's been another fab little week... A fairly standard one in many ways - the usual school run, battle of the wills with our two-year-old (post coming soon!), catch-ups with friends... And slowly but surely we are slowing down, starting the retreat into our own little cocoon... Nesting away to await the arrival of our new little bundle.

It feels good to look at an almost blank diary for the next few weeks... I'm slowing down - physically and emotionally - as our baby prepares itself to make its way into the world.

So in this last week of running around before we pull back somewhat, here's what we've been up to...

Read
After much umming and ahhhing about what on earth to read for my "I" author (you can check out my A-Z authors challenge here) someone recommended Eva Ibbotson to me... And I'm SO glad they did. Ibbotson is a children's author (let's admit it... they are always the best) and I was totally sucked into the storyline by page 2. Really, really enjoying this one... And I'm told all her other books are just as fab! Review to follow!

Watched
I will admit I was feeling rather sorry for myself after such a fab run of drama with The Muskateers, Poldark and Banished, but I'm glad to say ITVs "Home Fires" on Sunday nights is proving to tick all the boxes of a good, Sunday night, feel-good drama. It follows the story of a village in England at the outbreak of World War II, and as the men began to head off to war in last weeks episode, the drama is really starting to hot up. Love it!

Listened

I had my 38 week check with the midwife this week. On Tuesday morning, I was telling this to Heidi when Ava proceeded to burst into tears... "But I want to come with you too Mama!" It dawned on me that this will be one of the last appointments, and possibly her last chance to get a listen in to her baby brother or sister's heartbeat before the impending arrival, so I promised her I would pick her up early from Nursery, and she could come with me.

She was mesmerised, and when that Doppler turned on, she looked at me, eyes bright and said "It sounds like a train, Mama!"

The good news is, baby is head down, well engaged and showing every sign that it will make its own way into the world when its good and ready... After all the dramas surrounding Heidi's acrobatics during labour (she still loves to turn somersaults!), it has been a big relief that this baby seems to be doing exactly as its told! Long may it last!

Wore
Loving my Gucci Rush perfume at the moment. This was my scent through my first couple of years of uni, so it always makes me feel 19 again! Funny how smells can take you back so vividly to times gone by (and mad to think that was ten years ago - aaaargh!)

Made
We made a huge deal of Norwegian National Day last Sunday, and had so much fun feasting with our Scandinavian friends! Everything was decorated, we were all dressed in red, white and blue, and I rustled up a Scandinavian Feast of meatballs, peas and new potatoes, followed by Norwegian waffles, and fruit kebabs (provided by my Swedish friend Emelie!) It was so much fun, and we made lots of good memories to boot! You can see more of our festivities here

And lastly...

The lovely Rachel over at The Ordinary Lovely (a blog well worth checking out by the way) sent me this gorgeous turquoise mason jar earlier this week, and it has been brightening up our bathroom ever since! I was so thrilled when I found out I had won the giveaway... I never win giveaways, and she had packaged it up so nicely as well with a lovely little postcard too. Thank you lovely Rachel!

Now, let half term, and the wind-down, commence!

What have your little loves been this week?

A love-hate relationship...

I am currently having a love-hate relationship with a certain Sunday night ITV drama...

I LOVE Downton; along with "Call the Midwife", its the biggest highlight of my television-watching year (admittedly I watch very little, but that's beside the point)

I love the characters, the costumes, the witty comments from the Dowager Countess, the dry sarcasm of Lady Mary, the beautiful Downton grounds, the highs and lows of the servants quarters. But you know what? Lately I feel like there's a bit too much drama at Downton...

I mean, really? Must they destroy the lives of every single character???

Poor Anna!

I feel so sad for her and even though I know its only a TV show, its put a real dampener on my enthusiasm for this show. I'm only glad that's all it is - a drama!

Bring back "Call the Midwife" - at least there are some happy endings in the real life stories!

Have any of you been hooked by this series? What are your thoughts on over-dramatising drama?!