Poorly Little Bear...

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Just another day at the office

The children are on half-term this week, so yesterday we took them to visit Daddy's office as a special treat. Mark works over an hour away from where we live, so it was the first time we have been to see his office. The Podlings had a great time 'working' with Daddy's biros on paper and playing with dry markers on the white boards. They had a fabulous time and didn't want to leave. They are very keen to go again, but I'm not sure how much work Mark would get done with these little office assistants!
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 'Hold my calls, I've got to finish this report.'

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'This way!  I've been here five minutes and I already know my way around.'

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It wasn't the first time Tom has visited Daddy at the office. Here is Tom at two months old at Mark's old office in Torquay. He's grown a bit since then!.

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Baby Love!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Emma wasn't giving up the dummy for love nor money, sorry folks!

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Our Valentine's party

We have a terribly romantic trip to the dentist planned for the family after school tomorrow, so we had our Valentine's party today instead. Lily was incredibly excited when she saw the table and told me it was the nicest party she'd ever seen, bless her! Tom was over the moon with the chocolate ladybirds, though I think they are more likely to be played with than eaten! We invited the Podlings' Nanna and Grandad to share in our sweet tea and I think everyone enjoyed themselves. I certainly enjoyed putting it together!

Happy Valentine's Day!

 I can't claim the credit for this cake, it's a bought one. Tom loves ladybirds, so I couldn't pass it by when I saw it in Tesco. Other sweet treats on the table included foil-wrapped chocolate hearts and ladybirds,  Love Hearts and heart-shaped fruit treats. We had pink lemonade cooled with heart-shaped ice cubes and many other goodies besides.

These biscuits look so effective and are so simple to make. You will need two sizes of cookie cutter and you need to colour half of your biscuit dough pink. I sprinkled these with pink sugar before baking as a finishing touch.

I made heart-shaped fairy cakes with my Miniamo silicone moulds. I iced them with pink buttercream and used Love Hearts and pink sugar for decoration.

 Tom and Lily had a selection of Valentine's chocolates on their plates. I made a cone from a doily and filled it with a chocolate lollipop and heart and ladybird-shaped chocolates.

The Bad Red Ladybird stealing fruit (it's an in-joke, I'll explain it at some point)

The best picture I could manage of the Podlings enjoying their Valentine's party. Tom was not co-operating for photos today!  Emma had a good time with the chocolate lollipop I gave her after she had eaten her tea.

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Pigtails!

Emma has always had a lot of hair. Although I've cut her fringe several times, I've never touched the back and it is now quite long. For want of a more interesting diversion, I thought I'd see if I could get it in pigtails today and here is the result. I didn't think she could get any cuter...I was wrong! The pigtails are quite messy as it was just an experiment to see if I could get her hair up, rather than an attempt to produce anything portrait-worthy. They didn't stay in long, although not because she pulled them out. She is just so active that no hairstyle stands a chance! I think this one is destined for a neat little bob at some point. I'm just not ready to get rid of all that adorable baby hair yet.

Finger in mouth, drool on dress. She is teething methinks!

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The first snowdrop

Mark and I bought some snowdrop bulbs in the green last year and spent a chilly evening in late Spring planting them around the garden. Our efforts were rewarded this week by the appearance of this pretty little flower. It is the first of the snowdrops to open completely. There are plenty more in various states of emergence under the trees at the back of the garden, but I can see this one from my kitchen window. We're hoping the bluebells we planted at the same time will show us their pretty heads in abundance in the spring.
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A chilly walk in woods

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We've been a bit cooped up lately, so on Sunday afternoon we decided to go for a walk. It was a dry day, but bitterly cold, so we wrapped up warm, filled a flask for tea and headed to the woods. The girls, particularly Emma, love to be outside in the fresh air (just like their mum), but Tom...not so much! He feels the cold, poor thing, and hates it. Four out of five of us enjoyed our winter walk, but Tom couldn't wait to get back home again. We mollified him with chocolate Digestives, but we skipped the flask of tea we brought in the interests of getting back in the warm again. I am so ready for Spring...Winter seems long this year.

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