Not so autumnal walk & autumn activity

This morning I messaged my Mum asking her if she fancied a nice autumnal walk through the forest - except it actually turned out to be blooming beautiful! The sun was shining, and feeling very warm whilst we walked, so warm we needed an ice-cream! The aim of our walk was to collect some foliage, leaves and flowers for an autumnal activity. Hopefully we can use them for another activity for later on in the week too!

So anyway, back to the walk... We popped to Knettishall Heath, our local forest walk and decided to do the Heathland walk - its was 2.5 miles long and Darcie virtually walked it all!

We spent sometime taking some photographs, letting lady and Darcie explore nature . We even stumbled across some grazing ponies and a hungry caterpillar!

Some of the photo's we tried out included this one of Darcie and my mum. Last year we took a similar one in the exact same spot...

Can't believe how much Darcie has changed - time goes by way too quickly as a parent. I'm sure my mum would agree, in fact I think all mum's would agree time goes too quickly when you have little ones.

My mum also managed to take this beautiful picture...

I think its hilarious! Darcie looks so grumpy - but I'm having a hoot! hehe!

So, once our lovely walk was over and we had collected a bag of leaves, we headed home to create some art!

 Unfortunately, someone was a little too tired to get too into the arts & crafts. But we managed to do some leaf rubbings...

Like I said, we are hoping to do some more artwork using autumnal  leaves maybe even some printing using leaves. For now, we will stick with our pretty leaf rubbings.

How have you spent your Sunday? I'm now off to relax and help my mother set up her own blog!

Mummy B xoxox

Darcie's Reads // We're Going on a Bear Hunt

This week I decided to ask Darcie what book we should share, I already knew the answer. She immediately went to her room and picked out the classic We're Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen & Helen Oxenbury. Every night this week she has been asking for this during bedtime - its one we like to read together.

In fact, we have read it so many times I think we both know it off by heart!

Because of the repetitive nature of the story, I think its a story all toddlers will love. I'm even thinking of doing a little activity where we act out the story when she is a tiny bit older (she may even enjoy it now!). 

Having just checked out some other review's of this book, a lot of parents claim that even their children who are very reluctant to read enjoy this story - so definitely give this story a whirl if you have children who perhaps struggle to "get into" books.

We're going on a Bear Hunt is a book that should be on every toddlers book shelf, you can get your copy HERE. 

If you want to see the other books covered in this series click HERE.

Mummy B xoxox

A Busy Bowl Activity

I'm naming this a "busy bowl activity" because its an activity, that keeps toddlers busy and I keep it to hand in a bowl - how ingenious am I?! (haha)

In the mad dash to get myself organised and ready to go back to work, I have had to spend a bit of time organising the blog so when I do go back I can concentrate on my first week back (as you read this I will be well under way at work!). Due to this, I have been doing some activities with Darcie that she can happily get on with whilst I tip tap away! 

One of these activities is actually very very simple. Someone actually suggested in on my Facebook Page! Its just a simple pasta jewellery making activity! In a bowl, I place a piece of string, a variety of tubed pasta and just let her get on with it! I keep it to hand so if I'm cooking dinner I can just get the bowl out of the cupboard and she is good to go.

Its a great activity for their fine motor skills and to keep them focused. Darcie loves it when she gets a couple on there, she is always proud of her little achievement!

What activities do you like to do to keep the little ones busy?

Mummy B xoxox

Favourite Family Lifestyle Blogs

For the next five weeks, every Wednesday, I'm going to share with you some of my favourite blogs according to five different categories. They include, Family Lifestyle (this weeks), Beauty, Parenting, Lifestyle (non-"family" bloggers), Home Decor. You may think the categories are similar, and yes some may crossover, but these are the type of categories I tend to read on a regular basis.

So Family Lifestyle, are my main "go to reads". They tend to be quite general and not so "Parenting" heavy, whilst I read many blogs which are mainly related solely to parenting and child activities, I find the lifestyle blog much nicer to read as they are a lot more personal.

So lets jump into it...

Bump to Baby 

Alex from Bump to Baby is  mum to the gorgeous Ethan, her blog follows her journey as a mum, giving little insights to her life whilst creating some really interesting and informative reads. Alex has more recently got into YouTube, which is another nice element to her blog, letting her readers learn a little bit more about her. I have followed her now since she was pregnant, which is the first time I can say I have followed a "mummy blogger" from pregnancy right through to Ethan's first birthday and beyond - I think thats a testament to just how good her blog is!

Oh So Amelia

Kerry from Oh So Amelia is mum to the beautiful Amelia who is roughly the same age as Darcie. I love this blog because of Kerry's writing style, her posts are always very informative, but are never dull! Plus I really love her photography too. Kerry is now expecting baby number two, a little boy, and it has been lovely to read her pregnancy posts. Can't wait to "meet" the little guy and see Amelia as a big sister!

Sparkles & Stretchmarks

First of all, I love the name of this blog! Hayley, mum to Tyne is the brains behind Sparkles & Stretchmarks. Hayley is a fantastic writer and generally such a lovely person, one that I'm starting to learn more and more about through chatting through Facebook. Hayley's posts are always so well written and she is someone I really look up to in the blogging community. 

Lived With Love

Lived with Love is written by the lovely Kerry, mum to the little cutie Sienna. Kerry is also expecting her second child and its lovely to be able to share their excitement with them. Kerry also has a YouTube channel which she posts regularly on  (I don't know how she does it all, what's your secret?!) which I really enjoy! Kerry, as with all the other bloggers I have mentioned, are generally lovely people in the blogging community, who are always happy to offer help and advise. 

I do have so many more favourites, but these are the main four that I read on a regular basis. Who are your favourite family lifestyle blogs? I would love for you to leave the links below so I could check them out, or even your own :)

Mummy B xoxox

Autumn Bucket List

An Autumn bucket list has become a little bit of a tradition for us. Autumn is one of my favourite seasons, and not only is it because it's my birthday this month! Last year we created a simple list, you can check it out HERE.

So here we go....

1. Conker collecting - Darcie LOVES doing this, last year we did it on more than one occasion and even this morning we even found a couple whilst at the park. It is slightly too early but it won't be long before we can get a bag full! We tend to collect them, then put them in old Yankee Candle jars around the house. 

2. Create an Autumn themed drawing - Darcie is really into her drawing and I'm thinking of doing some leaf printing with her.

3. An evening stroll along Southwold Beach - I love going to Southwold at this time of year, as Lady can now go on the beach too.

4. Have a pumpkin spice latte - Just because they are so yummy!

5. Use the slow cooker - We have had a slow cooker for a couple of years now but have only used it a handful of times. It's also a bid to help me to be a bit more organised, but I have seen so many yummy recipes that I really must try!

6. Complete Christmas shopping - I am determined to be organised this year, I don't want to have the finical stress this year leaving it all to the last moment! Though I have to admit, I am struggling with ideas! (Leave your suggestions below!)

7. Make something - I say this every year, but I really want to have a go at making something! I would love to have a go at making a pushchair liner... could be a little project in the colder months!

8. Autumn Family Portrait - I'm really getting into my photography at the moment, so this would be an ideal project. 

Do you have an Autumn bucket list?

Mummy B xoxox

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.