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When it all gets too much

imageSometimes in life things get so busy and hectic that something has got to give. Something has to be abandoned by the wayside while you try to get everything back in order, and all your plates spinning again.

In the past 10 months for me, that abandoned thing has been this space. My record of life online, for my children to look back on. I’ve done terrible job this year and not kept a single note of anything we’ve done. The boys will think that Elliot’s first year of school has passed in a blur with no evidence to show that it ever happened. And so much HAS happened.

I’m almost ashamed to start again. Or more  rightly, I’m ashamed that I’ll end up stopping again.

But it I guess that’s the point. I want my boys to look at this record of their lives and see reality. And the reality is that we’ve had a super busy few months. I’ll have to summarise it all somehow but for now it feels good to just write.

The hardest step is the first. And now that’s done.

 

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Siblings {September}

September has been a month of adjustments in our household. Elliot started school so has adjusted to school routines and is doing such a superstar job of settling in. I am so proud of him.

 
Alexander is having to adjust to not having Elliot around wherever he goes – they used to play in the garden at nursery whenever they could even though they were in different rooms, so that’s been a change for him. He seems so excited to see Elliot when they are finally reunited each day, it’s very cute.    

And the grown ups around here have had changes in working patterns to get used to along with the logistical getting everyone to where they need to be each day, with filled in forms for one thing or another, and packed lunches when required. We’re definitely not used to it all yet by any means, but we’re getting there. Slowly. 

So a huge change for everyone. In an effort to counter all that, we’ve been trying to spend some time just the four of us, to make sure we are not rushing from one place to the next without stopping to check everyone is ok and happy. We’re also intent on making the most of our National Trust membership which was a gift from my parents for Christmas last year. 

This weekend we had a beautiful sunny day exploring Snowshill Manor, and I managed to get some lovely pictures of my growing-up-too-fast boys. 

To say they love each other is a complete understatement. They literally are each other’s favourite person. Elliot loves nothing more than teaching Alexander new words and games to play, and regularly tells me how much he loves having “a baby brother and a cat” (those two things are clearly linked in his mind even though the cat was around way before I even met my husband let alone had any children…poor cat didn’t know what had hit her when her whole life turned upside down in a matter of 2 years. Bless her!) 

 

They are growing more and more alike in terms of looks and we get a lot of “ooh they could be twins, 3 years apart” comments, which is lovely. (Apparently we only make one form of human, which is an interesting aside…) 

In other ways they are quite different. Elliot continues to be the thinker and more introverted than Alexander, who is developing a more dare-devil approach to life, or is that just part of being nearly 2? Maybe I blocked that out the first time!?

We’re loving spending time with these two people and I am constantly amazed and delighted by them and the fact I get to be their mum. I’m a lucky mummy indeed.

  

Check out the other lovely posts from this month over with Dear Beautiful:

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Siblings {August}

I think I’ve been putting off writing this month’s Siblings post. It’s the last one before Elliot starts school and I think the fact that they won’t be in the same place as each other every day is going to slightly change the relationship these two have carved out over the past 20 months.  Or maybe it will change nothing at all and I’m just being anxious for no reason. I hope that’s the case.

  

In all honesty, Elliot is Alexander’s favourite person. He regularly looks for him and enjoys finding toys that are his and telling me proudly “Lellot!” – it belongs to Elliot. He loves anything and everything that Elliot does, and likes to follow him about (whilst also doing a lot of adventurous discovering himself, being a lot braver, or maybe risk averse, than his elder counterpart!) 


Elliot is still loving his role as big brother and often recently I’ve seen him take Alexander’s hand and walk with him. 

Alexander is taking a while to actually properly learn his own name. The boys do look alike and at the moment if you ask Alex who he’s looking at in a mirror, he’ll be quite adamant that it’s “Lellot”! 

  

The boys are pretty keen on snacks, and iPhones. Please don’t judge! It’s hard to get them sitting in one place long enough to take one photo let alone a few to choose from!

  

 

Maybe next month we’ll have Elliot in his school uniform. I’ve just finished labelling it all 🙂

Check out the other lovely posts from this month over with Dear Beautiful:

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Hedgehog rolls

We recently had some friends over to play, and as it was the day after the “bread” round of The Great British Bake Off, I thought it would be fun to make some little rolls with the kids and then eat them for lunch! 

 

To make 6 small rolls you’ll need:

  • 12oz Strong Bread Flour – we used Wholemeal
  • 1 1/2tsp Quick Yeast (about half a Allinson packet)
  • 1tsp Sugar
  • Pinch of Salt
  • 1 tbsp vegetable oil
  • 220ml of hand hot water (from the tap is fine!) 
  • Raisins for eyes

To make your little hedgehogs, start by putting the dry ingredients into a bowl, then give them a good mix to combine them. 

Next, add the oil and then the water. Start to mix together, as it becomes sticky get your hands in the bowl and start to knead the dough.

If the mixture is still sticky add some more flour and if it’s dry, sprinkle on a little more water.

Once the dough is combined turn out onto a lightly flour-dusted surface and knead the dough for 5-10 mins. The kids LOVED this part! 

Mould them into 4-6 hedgehog shapes and use scissors to snip into the dough to make spikes. We used raisins for eyes too.

Put the rolls on a floured baking sheet and cover with a clean tea towel and leave in a warm place for about an hour to rise. (We used the oven on lowest setting as we don’t have an airing cupboard!)

Next, heat up your oven to 200 degrees centigrade and cook the rolls for 25 minutes.  The rolls will feel firm and if you tap the bottom of them, they’ll sound hollow.

Ours lasted one mealtime! 

Enjoy x

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Cheesy flapjacks

I  know it sounds weird but bear with me. Apparently savoury flapjacks are a thing. 

As it turns out they are actually pretty delicious! I bumped into a friend in town a week ago and she was giving these amazing homemade flapjacks to her little ones and offered one to Alexander. To say he wolfed it down would be an understatement. I had to get the recipe!

Cheese and veg flapjacks

100g unsalted butter
300g porridge oats
350g grated cheese
2 beaten eggs
200g of one of any of the following (grated): carrot, courgette, red onion, sweet potato, swede, parsnip, or pumpkin. (I used butternut squash which worked well!) 

  1. Preheat oven to 180 and lightly grease a Swiss roll tin. 
  2. Melt butter in a pan over a low heat. 
  3. Take off the heat and combine all ingredients in the pan, mixing well.
  4. Press down into the tin using the back of your spoon/spatula.
  5. Bake for 20 minutes until golden brown- they may need a few more minutes. 
  6. Allow to cool for 5 minutes then cut into small slices and turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely. 
  7. Store in an airtight container. I think they should also be stored in the fridge but that’s up to you!

I didn’t manage to get a photo but they were such a hit with all four of us and a great way of sneaking in a bit more veg (albeit smothered in cheese….) without ending up in this kind of state: