Darcie's Reads // North

This week in the 'Darcie's Reads' series we have North, The Greatest Animal Journey On Earth by Nick Dawson. This book is beautiful and informative. It includes depictions of the five thousand mile journey to the Arctic Circle of various animals. The book has been designed to be repeatedly poured over, many of the double page spreads are wordless allowing younger children to visually read them unaccompanied.

Whilst the illustrations are undeniably stunning, the book boasts a large amount of scientific information, including a glossary and index in the back! 

The reason I have included this in the Darcie's Reads series is because, yes, she loves the book but I think its a brilliant book if you have multiple children. The illustrations and back ground story keeps the younger ones captivated, whilst the technical terms and scientific facts keep the older ones engaged.

Can't wait for the day Darcie can share this with her brother or sister.

If you have a book you think we may enjoy, please leave your recommendations in the comments. We would love to know.

Mummy B xoxox

P.S If you would like to read last weeks edition of Darcie's Reads, click HERE.

Home Haul August

Today I have decided to do a little home haul with you all. Some of the items I'm going to share with you are things from our wedding that we now have dotted around the house (we do have more but I will share them with you another day) but thought it might be nice to include them.

I will start with the reason for this post... These beautiful cushions from Tesco's. I picked them up today because one, they are gorgeous and two, they were so bloody cheap! At £2 each, I paid £8 in total and I would of said that would have been a good price for one cushion as they are lovely quality. Bargain or what?! I love the orange colour its the perfect transition colour from summer to autumn. 

We bought this beautiful piece of art whilst on honeymoon in St. Ives, from a little gallery a few doors down from our cottage. I thought it was perfect to remind us of our stay, plus it was only around £15.

Next is a bit of an ordinary item, but I think, even in the age of mobile phones, a home phone is important - especially in emergencies. Our previous phone was my dad's old phone, a rather "cool" Harley Davidson telephone - which actually revved when it rang! This one is much more simple, and doesn't stand out like a sore thumb in our house like its predecessor! It was £40 available at Amazon.

As I have mentioned, we have dotted a few wedding things around the house. Like dried gypsophila, the cake topper etc. In the background you can also see a silhouette painting a family friend did which was an image taken from our engagement shoot. 

We also framed our wedding card sack that we got from Etsy from THIS seller. Looks so cute in our hallway!

Finally is this gorgeous wicker heart from NEXT,  which is hanging in our hallway too. This would make the perfect gift too (keep this one banked for Christmas!).

What have you been buying/eyeing up for the home?

Mummy B xoxox

Summer Memories

Well its fair to say that we have had a pretty incredible summer ! It is one that we will treasure forever and ever. But what about Darcie? 

This summer we finally tied the knot, it was something so beautiful and more perfect than we can ever imagined. What was even more special was that we got to share it with Darcie. 

But at only two, I can imagine that this beautiful day may get forgotten. So to try and make sure she remember's the day and just how special it was we have put a few wedding momentos in her room.

Everyday she talks about her dress and that day, saying how "mummy and Darcie were princesses!". It's very sweet. I'm hoping this will help her remember, along with a photo book which we will create once our professional photo's have been sent to us. 

We also had our amazing honeymoon in St. Ives, Cornwall. I made sure I blogged our honeymoon so we could remember the trip in detail, but I think I would like to work on a scrapbook too. Perhaps we could make it a family project.

Darcie had so many incredible experiences, all of which we amazingly were able to document through photo's or this blog - this is why I love blogging!

Other day's out have included, Bewilderwood, Ickworth House, Gt. Yarmouth and countless walks in the countryside trying to get everything ticked off our '50 Things' list.

I often get friends and family who just don't 'get' blogging, the reason is THIS. Keeping our memories alive, sharing them with loved ones, giving the opportunity for Darcie to be able to look back, remember, treasure and enjoy. 

This is my entry to the Center Parcs and Tots 100 August challenge. If I'm lucky enough to be chosen we would like to go to Elveden Forest.

How do you plan on treasuring your summer memories?

Mummy B xoxox

This post is dedicated to Jim, sleep tight.

Toddler Room // Update

Last week I decided to have a little move around of Darcie's room and update a few things, what a bad blogger I would be if I didn't share it with you?!

There is no real drastic changes about her room, but it feels a little bit more like her room. Me and Jamie decided to move our bedside cabinets out of our room, and we put one in her room. It now holds some books and a beautiful photo frame that we got for the wedding, just waiting to pop a photo of her and her friends in there! Both pieces of furniture pictured above are from Ikea. 

On top of her chest of draws we have some more wedding momentoes, 

I think its nice to have these things in her room, to help her remember these special occasions in her life. Plus they look super cute! 

Her bed is the same, you may remember that we decided to put Darcie into a toddler bed when she was just over one. 

Next is her "busy" corner! Her white toy box is from Next, but we are using it to store her old baby toys for when we are blessed with another baby. So on top we have popped a couple of Ikea Spice Racks and put a few of her favourite books in.

You may by wondering why we haven't attached these to the wall... Well we did manage to hang two of them, but our walls are so paper thin, it was a bit of a mission!

I'm still pleased with how they look though!

More wedding momentoes! These little cards are pictures from our Engagement shoot, and Liz Bishop our photographer, placed these around the tables at the wedding - it was such a nice touch! So we kept a few and put some in her room.

What I have loved about moving her room around, is the amount of space we have now created. She is spending more time in there now, especially in the mornings, happily playing away.

If you want to see how it looked originally, click HERE. Are you happy with your child's room or are you thinking of adding some changes?

Mummy B xoxox

Ickworth House with The National Trust

We were very kindly sent a family ticket to explore a National Trust site, we decided upon Ickworth House as it was a place relatively close to us but we had never gone to visit. When we arrived the staff made us feel very welcome, as it was raining and Darcie was walking veeery slowly, one of the staff offered to give us a ride on the small shuttle bus up to the house. When we approached I couldn't help but feel I was being transported back in time, like a character from Jane Austen - just with a toddler attached to my leg. 

We arrived just as a tour of the basement had started, so the lovely staff took our bags and brought us up to speed. I have to admit, the tour was my favourite part. It was fantastic to see the volunteers share their knowledge and love of the history. It was so fascinating to see how a house of that size used to function - I can barely manage my own modern three bed!

The National Trust have restored the basement so beautifully, I was very envious of the kitchen! 

For children, the basement was perfect. They can play a song on the servants piano, handle the kitchen equipment and even play a game of "I spy" with the National Trusts's well thought out activity sheets. Its perfect for getting them excited about history.

After this, we were a little peckish. We were going to bring a picnic, but one, we were very disorganised and two, the weather wasn't in our favour anyway! Luckily they have a superb restaurant, we can highly recommend the pate! 

It was then time burn off some calories and explore the grounds!

Darcie loved to have the freedom of running around! We saw many families who were lapping up the grounds, either in their wellies or on their bikes - I'm thinking this would be the perfect setting for learner cyclists! 

Before we headed into the house to take another tour, Darcie spotted some children's activities that were available - perfect for them to get involved!

Then it was time for a walk around the house, this part is not so good for tiny tots and unfortunately we didn't get to see everything. 

That being said, I think Darcie was in awe with much of what she saw. She kept saying "oh don't touch it!" - at least that sank in! 

We had an absolutely fantastic day, and we were very grateful to all the help that was offered from the staff and how they engaged with Darcie - we were blown away to be honest!

Thank you very much the National Trust, we can't wait to come back, next time with our wellies on so we can tick some more things off our "50 things" to do list (find out more HERE)!

What's your favourite National Trust Site?

Mummy B xoxox

My top 5 blogging tips

I have been asked quite a few times now, about how to start a blog and even help friends get started. Now before I share with you my tips, I just wanted to say that I am no way an expert! I do this as a hobby, I have taught myself everything I know and I'm pretty happy with the way my blog is currently - though I am always looking for new ways to improve. So if you're looking to set a blog up or looking for ways to improve your blog, keep reading.

1. Keep it simple

When I first started my blog, my layout was very girly, bunting all over the place, pretty pictures everywhere. It was all a bit... busy. Keep your layouts simple and clutter free, your readers will want to be able to navigate with ease. You header should be clear and again its nice to just keep it simple.

2. A picture speaks a thousand words

If writing isn't really your thing, focus on your photography. Some of my favourite blogs keep me coming back because of their beautiful photos. Personally I'm a very visual person, and I like photos to look well thought out and actually add something to the content. You don't need to have a fancy camera, but do think about the positioning of your images and the lighting. You can also improve your photos by using editing software, or online tools such as PicMonkey (which I use and hold a subscription to).

3. Write about what you love

Seems obvious, but time and time again I have sat at my computer screen and thought "what the hell can I write about?". If you are not passionate about a particular topic, then neither are your readers. It's times like that when I often have mini blogging breaks to re-gain focus and do a little soul searching to reignite my passion. It's only natural for this to happen from time to time.

4. Get to know other bloggers

Get involved in the blogging community. It is (usually, as with everything there can be negative people out there) a great community with people who are happy to give out advice and offer support. When ever I have a blogging related question I turn to Twitter and within minuets a fellow blogger has replied!

5. Google is your friend

If all else fails just turn to Google! It may be a lame tip, but as I previously said, I self taught myself everything I know about blogging. I think to those people who don't blog, it could seem a little daunting and even overwhelming, but with time and patience it can be done. To be fair I know that I still have lots to learn! 

So they are my top 5 tips for blogging, what would you share to a fellow blogger or someone starting out?

Mummy B xoxox

The Little Snug, St. Ives // Review

A couple of people have asked a little bit more about where we stayed in St. Ives and our thoughts, so I thought I would put together a little review. When we booked our honeymoon I wrote a post including images from online (see that post HERE), so you can have a nosey at that and compare it to our original thoughts and my own snaps...

We decided to opt for a little cottage, we wanted somewhere to feel like a home to make sure Darcie was nice and settled and to be honest thats exactly what we got. The cottage felt like my dream home. The decor was completely to my taste, it was very light and airy, which they did very well to achieve given its down a very little road (literally right by the sea I may add!!) and a terraced cottage. 

One of my favourite rooms was the kitchen, again so light and I love the style. In particular the use of a touch of blue through the accessories. 

The kitchen was well equipped. Had everything we could possibly need, from straws and plastic cutlery to cake tins! We really should of made more use of the kitchen, we only ate and home twice during our stay!

The living room is equally as lovely, and keeps with the cottage's name and is nice and snug! I can imagine that this cottage is lovely to stay in during the winter, I would of loved to have tested out the SMEG fire! Also, LOVED the shutters, which where throughout the house.

The house, as you can imagine, had an unusual layout including lots of stairs. Darcie, who at home still has stair gates, only had one accident on the first day, she soon mastered them after her little bump. I would worry if she had been any younger and perhaps stair gates could be provided for future guests. 

Our room was gorgeous, plain white walls again with duck egg blue... oh so beautiful! There was plenty of room for clothes, lots of storage and a TV too which was useful when having lazy mornings as a family. 

Darcie's room was quite small, but they worked really well with the space they had. Darcie slept oh so very soundly in the bottom bunk, which was such a relief as that was something I was really worried about! 

Overall, we were sooo happy with our stay at the Little Snug and we hope to have future stays here. I also just wanted to thank the owners for there kind wedding card and Prosecco, such a lovely touch!

If you would like to find out more about the Little Snug click HERE or follow them on Facebook HERE. 

Mummy B xoxox

Darcie's Reads // Dragon Loves Penguin

Hi guys! I'm here today with a new feature which will be running every saturday until Christmas - Darcie's Reads. 

Darcie is a big lover of books, and to be honest I love it! From a very early age it was clear to see she was going to be a bookworm, and so now, at two, she has a pretty impressive book collection. I thought it may be quite nice to share with you some of her favourites. There is something about children's books that I just can not resist, the lovely stories and illustrations are just so magical. The first book that I'm going to share with you, is a very naughty purchase I made today. Yes Jamie I can picture you rolling your eyes... But it is an absolute beauty and the story so heart warming.

Dragon Loves Penguin, by Debi Gliori (RRP £6.99) is a tale of a dragon in need of an egg and an abandoned egg in need of a mummy. All would seem perfect but when the egg hatches the baby isn't like the other dragons, it is in fact a baby penguin! But his mummy loves him, no matter what, even when the other babies aren't so sure. Little do they know that being different can actually be good, and the penguin saves the day!

This story brings a tear to the eye, it mentions how you don't need to have all the latest toys and how all you need is a mother's love. So very true. The perfect read for bedtime, snuggling up with you little one.

This book has beautiful illustrations, perfect for Darcie to make her own story to (she loves to do this "Once upon a time...").

I would make this a must for your little ones book list, would be a perfect Christmas present too (yes, I really just said that in August!).

You can find this book in most good book stores like we did, alternatively you can buy on Amazon, HERE.

Mummy B xoxox