Super Hero Saturday!

We LOVE dress up in this house (or at least I love to indulge the dressing up urges of my boys!). No, I don't get to do sugar plum fairies, princesses, or Snow White, but I do get to do Medieval Knights, Dinosaurs and today - a very cute little Superhero, off to his first party "on his own"!


There seems to be a ceaseless torrent of requests from school to do dress up - and now that I have 3 at school, it can be quite a time consuming event. However, if you could see the mountain of photos clogging up this hard drive of various boys transformed into pirates, wizards and Jedis, I think you'd be able to tell, I don't really mind!
The investment of time last year to make spotty capes for Children In Need day paid off today when it came to the Superhero party "Supa Noah" was attending. He is at a particularly edible age, when the whole world is new and exciting and small things mean a lot. It was lovely watching him work out how he was meant to act with the outfit on - racing round the garden making all the right noises for someone with superpowers!


Today has felt like one of those days when things go right.
Superhero safely delivered to the party.
Quick jaunt to the farmer's market in town which produced a bounty of Olives and ciabatta for lunch....
around the fire.


We are taking every opportunity for outside time at the moment, not knowing when the weather will change. The boys had a lesson in fire lighting.....


and we toasted brie sandwiches and ate our olives.



My lovely boys also brought me back some cyclamen, which Reuben and I planted up in my new flower border (we have reluctantly given up on the vegetables for now). I love cyclamen - as I explained to my bemused husband, for the tenuous, but significant reason that they featured on the tea set we used in our honeymoon B&B. I know! They just stuck in my memory! And now I have a little splash of colour in the garden to take me back too.




I have had the day in the studio - finishing of a growing "sisterhood" of dolls, which I am uploading to my Facebook page for purchase over the next week if you would like one. It's been crocheted flowers and smiles today! Now they are finished I am looking forward to creating a collection of jewelery.


I hope you have been enjoying this low Autumn sun today as much as I have - there is something quite special about this crisp, clear, but mellow light.

xxxxxxxxx

Oh, and by the way, the real Superhero of the day was definitely my lovely hubby - determined to give the boys a brilliant half term holiday, and succeeding with panache on the first day. Well done. Time for a lovely dinner to finish the day off. xxx

The End of a LONG LIST!

Back in April, my lovely hubby helped me write a plan to get through the next few months of craziness, to include 3 birthday parties, a wedding, a stall at the Fete in the Park and all the other stuff that life throws at you! Today was the final thing to check off that list - number One's Birthday Party.


In true C style, he wanted not only a Harry Potter Party, but a party in the woods, with 11 friends. So, by borrowing Nanny and Grandads' super Camper van (with the all important toilet!), we were able to provide such a party! All day we looked out of the window, wondering whether to cancel, whether to decamp to the Youth Club (cool, but not very Potterish), or whether to go for it and hope all the other kids were as up for getting wet as C was! In the end, we decided to trust the weather forecast and go for it - and a little miracle happened - for 3 hours straight, after wind and rain, the sun shone in the woods and the children ran around like spring lambs!



I have to say, I found it hard to get this party together in my head - such fun, a Harry Potter party - so much inspiration to draw on, but I just couldn't get it straight in my head. Maybe it was the hundred other things I was trying to do at the same time!



In the end, we had a lovely time, Jonny did a brilliant treasure hunt around the "Forbidden Forest" and we had some fun games and food. The babies survived their two hours in the confines of the Camper van and had a lovely time with nanny - after romping about in their wet weather gear and jumping in as many puddles as they could find!

So, the list is at and end, but as you know, there are always more things being added than taken away - and actually in less than two weeks my good friend Jo and I are running the inaugural workshops of our new venture, Make Space. So on Monday morning, I will be sitting down once again with a cuppa and a new list.

Mad May round up!

May is almost over and the amazing but exhausting rin of parties and projects is over (as much as it ever is!).
So I thought I'd give you a quick round up of everything I've done the last month, while I pause and take a breath before June commences and the summer projects really begin!

Ribbons for the children to play with at the wedding

"Blessing tree" - each guest could take home a leaf with a blessing and a rose brooch attached....in return for....
Writing their own blessing for the happy couple on a leaf and returning it to the tree.
The red carpet aisle leading to the marquee.
The banners inscribed with Bible verses about growth and creation.
The beautiful setting at the foot of the South Downs.


The cake, topper by little dolls dressed as the couple were. The bride is a gardener, hence the horticultural theme!





Paper pom poms - decor theme throughout the venue. These ones were for the ceiling of the hall.

And then, the next week, Ben's birthday and another cake. He's really into friendly monsters at the moment!

The party bag contents...
Little monster key rings for each guest.

I wonder what June will bring!

Party! Party! Party!

May is the month of parties! I am right in the middle of the hectic month I knew was on its way. We've just had E's 5th birthday party, which saw the house full of bout 15 of his little friends. I love doing parties, but they are exhausting! It's nice that they get a day that is just for them when you have five - it so rarely happens! So, birthdays in this house are about them being able to express their personality. E chose and Octonauts cake, which is the hit TV programme of the moment - lots of adventure and action. I was pleased with the final result - and so was E!





Now I sit here writing this at 10.10pm with a cake in the oven - the first of 3 that need to be baked and iced, ready for the wedding this weekend. I went to buy all the icing etc today and I am looking forward to doing it, I just wish I could shake the headache I've had all day. What I really need is a bath and an early night - but the cake needs another 30 minutes! Nevermind - it's a little window of blogging time.



I'm looking forward to posting photos of all the wedding decor and creativity - there's nothing quite like being involved in a wedding.




Then, when that's done, it's time to get on with B's party the following week. Then in June I may just have some sleep!