Back to school backpacks.

Red book, 4 x nappies,  3 x wipes (sample packs)

Sample size sudacreme, small pot of nappy bags, 

1 x complete change of clothes, 1 x muslin, 1xhat.

Tomorrow it's back to school and preschool for the two biggest Randoms. It also means that G-man will have to get used to being out and about a bit more.

Which means he needs his backpack organised! Having a backpack per child is an absolute life saver for us.

Baby D - 3x nappies, 1 x wipes, 1 x hand gel

1x sun lotion, 1x sun hat and glasses

1x complete outfit.

We've got into a good routine of topping each bag back up after a trip out. That way we are always ready to go at a moments notice, the only additions needed are drinks and a snack usually.

DD; 1x sunhat and sunscreen, 1x hand gel,

School books (term time only)

In the winter we will swap the summer hats and sun lotions for hats and gloves.  Out of term times DD has a story book replace her school books.

For long journeys or waiting rooms I pop in a busy bag of goodies to amuse and entertain for the duration.

I'm planning to share a few more of organising ideas that work for us this week. I've got two weeks of Hubby being on paternity leave left to get myself back up to full running speed, so I'm going to use the time wisely and reboot some of our daily routines.

X x x

 Baby D was out this afternoon at a birthday party so DD and I took advantage of the sunshine and went for a nature walk.

We enjoyed looking at all the spring/summer flowers. The horse chestnut trees have quite impressive blooms.

 We also checked in on the future plum stocks. It's looking to be a really good year for wild plums. I will certainly be filling my freezer again this year with free fruit.

 We also collected half a bucket of elderflowers. I can't believe they've already come around again. The year has certainly been a quick one.

We're making cordial using the same River Cottage recipe as last year. At the moment it is infusing (I like to give mine overnight )and the house smells delicious!

X x x

Day 6 & 7 - Pirate week

  Apologies for yesterday's lack of post. We had a horrendous day!  Every so often we have one day where the girls can't stand the sight of each other. You practically have to keep them in separate rooms as even eye contact can cause a riot between them. Such was yesterday.
 Today though they are back to best friends so we can continue working with our lovely pirate week!
 This morning the girls found a pirate beach set each at the breakfast table. They have been sailing around the house most of the morning and tonight will be added to our bath toys stash  (while mummy culls a few older and grubby to make room)

We have also been  enjoying some pirate printables

 that mummy found online. The new printer arrived yesterday and is going to be so useful to have again!
 We made pirate itsy bitsy books to color and write in  too.

We also spent a few happy hours with some playground friends of ours. We all went to our favourite coffee shop for a drink and catch up. It was lovely seeing all the children chatting together on the squishy sofa. 

Gman was being passed around for snuggles when I snapped this photo, just in case you think I'd forgotten him lol.

X x x

Day 5 - Potty the Pirate!

Today was the main event for our pirate themed week. A pirate fun day at our local shopping centre. The girls both made a pirate mask at the craft table. I was so proud to be the parent to two of the few children to use please and thank you when talking to the pirate helpers. 

After hitting the craft table and both receiving a balloon creation from Potty himself, it was time for the show!

45 minutes of pirate magic, audience participation and a bit of  a ventriloqy kept the girls attention for the whole time. Which was fantastic as Little G needed a feed and change, so much easier when the girls are distracted!

We were so proud of their good behaviour we dug into the half term budget and splurged on a McDonald's lunch for each of them. 

So far the holidays have only cost a few pounds in craft supplies and petrol. Who says you need money to have fun?

Even Gman seems to have enjoyed himself today. I know at this stage (day 13!) it's probably wind and not a genuine smile but mummy doesn't care lol.

X x X

Day 4- More craftin' me heartys

Today has been a staying home day. Mummy had her final midwife appointment to be signed over to a health visitor, and SIL visited with her family.

The girls enjoyed making some simple treasure chests and filling them with Shiny plunder.

We used beads, sequins, sparkly shapes and some buttons. The whole activity lasted about three times as long as I planned as they both really got into it, taking great care to pick the perfect things to add.

After lunch Baby D, G-man and Daddy all took a nap (I blame the sunshine), so DD and I made this rather funky loo roll parrot. 

Tomorrow is the highlight of the week. We are going to a free pirate fun day at a local shopping centre to make even more pirate crafts and watch a special Potty the pirate show.

X x x

Day Three - Pirate parks and picnics.

How fab is this park? I first heard of it last summer when it won a grant to be redeveloped. 

Isn't it perfect for pirate play? The park itself is huge with swings, see saws, tunnels and all sorts but the girls focused mainly on the ship itself.

And the sand of course, oh the sand!

We sat on some log benches and enjoyed a little picnic together half way through playing. The girls had a Scotch egg each and a selection of fruit and vegetable chunks. 

They were so eager to play we voted to have our pudding at home, so they must have been enjoying themselves.

Once we got home, we popped on a pirate film and enjoyed some French fancies. 

All in all its been a very cheap and plesent day.

Tomorrow we will be staying home as we have visitors coming and Mummy is finally ready to be signed off by her midwife. 

Once the girls are in bed we will be setting up a few crafts for them to discover and do in the morning. 

Watch this space.

X x x

Day 2 - Pirate week

Today we decided to postpone the park and picnic plans for 24 hours. It was very overcast this morning though it did stay dry in the end. 

We all spent the afternoon visiting nanny and grandad instead. 

We gave the girls a pirate craft pack each we picked up last week in Poundland.  

DD loved wearing hers but Baby D decided she was happy just decorating, so I have no shots of her looking piratey today. 

We have put the hats, swords and eye patches on the wall in our pirate dining area for decoration.

Tomorrow hopefully the weather will allow us a pirate picnic and playground adventure.  But mummy has a few crafts tucked up her sleeve just in case we're rained in.

X X X 

Pirate week day 1

We've officially started half term with a big surprise for the girls. We've declared half term pirate week and planned lots of pirate themed activities, trips and movies.

Our first task was making pirate bunting. The girls came down to breakfast to find everything laid out ready. With a few other pirate theme things to help decorate our table area for the week. 

The dining table is now looking rather piratey for the week ahead. We're hoping to decorate the walls around it with our art and craft creations.

This afternoons activity was a water bead treasure hunt. I picked up a bargain 10 packets of water beads for just 1.99 on Ebay. They are fantastic for sensory play, in this case we filled a small box from the poundshop with beads and small plastic sea animals. The girls really enjoyed finding the treasure and them creating  elaborate plays with all the different sea animals.

X x X

Baby brain or Gremlins?

Somewhere in this house is a little pile of various baby hats lovingly washed and folded ready for Little G to use. 

But....

where on earth are they?

I can't for the life of me remember where they have been stashed, there have been several expeditions to find them but not one has turned up.

So I've popped my jumper for DD to one side and knitted a few new hats for Lil man over the past few days. The stripy wool above you may recognise from my swap box in February. It's perfect for a little boys hat I think. 

I just know they'll turn up once I've knitted the new ones! And next week I will blog about having too many hats everywhere.

X x X

Rudebarb prep

  I was given a lovely armful of Rhubarb by my parents at the weekend. Or as it's called in this house rudebarb. The name stuck after an incredible cute conversation with a young DD.

I spent the morning nap time sat at the dinner table cutting it up with a pair of scissors (such a great tip!) ready for the freezer. I like to mix crumble ingredients so I cut it quite small and popped it into some ice cream tubs.

I left out one mug full though and microwaved it with a little water. Gave it a quick wizz with my trusty stick blender and have frozen down the puree in an ice cube tray. 

It's the beginnings of G-mans weening stash. I'm hoping to add a few cubes of this and that over time so he has a nice selection of fruit, veg and dinners to try.

 Day five post section and I'm frugalling again. Ohhhhhhhhhh it feels good!

X x X

Life at Chez Random

Life is slowly settling into our new routine. Tomorrow is going to be a challenge I think, our first day of school runs after our quiet weekend bonding as a family of five!

We've kept visitors to a minimum (just grandparents and the neighbour who spotted us coming home) to let girls get used to being around G. Both of them are smitten but a little over enthusiastic to help.

D has found the whole thing exhausting and we keep finding her flaked out in various spots around the house. 

Boo has been enjoying the many many craft kit distractions we stashed for G's arrival. They all require minimal assistance to complete letting us feed and change G in peace. But also builds up a stunning showcase of "things" for her to proudly show visitors in the next few days.

As for me I am definitely feeling more mobile. I still haven't quiet mastered standing to sitting and back but otherwise recovery is pretty swift. 

I have some really impressive bruising from the cannulas though which surprised me by popping up overnight. 

X x x

Welcome G- man.

A new baby Random has been born into the world. To be known as  G-man on the blog :)

Born 7.47am on 14th May 2015 via semi-elective csection at 37w6d

Weighing a squish able 7lb10oz.

We were home the next day and so far everything is going smoothly. The girls are besotted with him as are mummy and daddy.

Looking forward to returning properly to blogging soon. If I can just stop staring into those big blue eyes.

 X x X