Staying cool in the pool

Lily was keen to make the most of the hot weather and asked to have the paddling pool out today. I was happy to oblige, particularly as it gave me the chance to put the girls in their matching swimming costumes for the first time. I adore matching sister outfits and Emma is just coming into a size that makes it possible for me to indulge occasionally and put her and Lily in cute matching attire.

Lily loved the pool and Emma is a complete water baby, so despite shivering with cold she wouldn't get out for love nor money. They had another session in the pool after tea and Emma screamed blue murder when I brought her inside to get her ready for bed. The weather is supposed to be nice again tomorrow, so I daresay they will be back in again tomorrow.

Tom was too cool for the pool, or more accurately, the pool was too cool for Tom. Tom hates being cold and wouldn't entertain the idea of putting anything more than his hands in the pool. Hence, no photos of the boy child!

Lily pretending to be a mermaid

Splash! 

Looking adorable in their matching swimming costumes 

My lovely girls!

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The bun is back!

It took just over a month before I got fed up with the new hair and put it in a bun. The bun is much smaller now, but I do feel more like myself again!
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The Park again

Lily and me in the park. We gave Lily her own Spencer Bear for her birthday, so now he has to go everywhere with us!

Just a few pictures from our trip to the park yesterday afternoon. The weather was lovely, so we made a flask of tea and brought some fruit, cake and biscuits with us for a little picnic. Mark is still recovering from pneumonia, but he is slowly getting better. A gentle stroll in the park is still enough to wear him out, but at least he got to enjoy the sunshine with us.

Mark in the park! 

Emma preparing to explore the bushes. 

Tom insisted he wanted me take his photo with a sad face. He wasn't that sad, honest!

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Lily's 5th Birthday

Lily turned five last week and we celebrated with a hearts, flowers and butterflies party (Lily was very specific!). Lily had been counting down to her birthday for weeks, so she was understandably excited on the day! She was less amused at having to go to school on her birthday, despite the large rosette we had given her to wear. I completely agree, everyone should be given their birthday off!

With all that had been going on in the last six weeks, I simply wasn't up to planning a large party. Lily was quite happy to have a little family only affair and I had a lot of fun putting it together without having to worry about hiding the enormous ironing pile in the playroom!

She had a lovely day, though was aghast when, at the end of the day, she asked how long it was until her next birthday and I told her 365 days! Poor thing, a year is a long time when you are five. A year is definitely not as long when you are 34...I can't believe my baby girl is growing up so fast!

The serious business of opening gifts!

The party table.

I cut butterfly, flower and heart shapes from pastel coloured card and strung them together with cotton before suspending them from the lights above the table. I wrapped white tulle around the light fitting to give a cloud affect above the table and it looked rather effective with the butterflies flitting above the party. Extra shapes adorned the walls and there were lots of balloons...its not a party without balloons!

With a flowers, hearts and butterflies theme, lots of fresh flowers were a must. The cotton candy machine was given to us by my sister and it was a big hit at Lily's party. I had great fun making it too!

Lily wanted a pink, heart-shaped cake with flowers and butterflies on it, so I think I ticked all her boxes with this one! The classic Victoria sponge baked in heart-shaped tins, topped with pink chocolate (just use some red food colouring in melted white chocolate, but stir slowly or the chocolate sets too quickly), buttercream and sugar flowers and butterflies. 

 More pastel-coloured sugar butterflies topped the homemade fairy cakes

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 The very happy little birthday girl!

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Five Today

2006

My sweet little girl turned five today.

Happy Birthday Lily,

we love you very much!

2011

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Checking in

I've totally neglected my poor blog during our recent bout of illness! Mark is slowly on the mend, though he still gets very tired and breathless. He is signed off work until next week and I just hope he is well enough to go back when Tuesday rolls around. He has been very unwell and I think it is going to take some time for him to get his strength back. The Podlings are all well again and though I am still suffering from a raging sore throat and a cough, things are slowly returning to normal. I am colossally behind on the housework and laundry and, since a certain little lady is turning five this week, I also have a birthday to organise. All this to say that I'm afraid the blog is likely to remain quiet for a few more days. By way of catch up, I will leave you with some photos I took of Lily and Spencer from when she was Star of the Week a couple of weeks ago.

We've been growing some vegetables from seed this year. Lily is proudly showing off the peppers we had just potted on.

Lily and Spencer at a local ball pool on an afternoon out with her Nanna and Grandad

Lily at her Star of the Week tea party which we held the night before Spencer had to go back to school.

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All quiet on the blogging front

You've probably noticed it's been a bit quiet on the blog for a couple of weeks. I'm afraid blogging has had to take rather a back seat lately. Mark is currently signed off from work with pneumonia, so he is not a well man. In addition, Tom and Lily were home from school ill almost all of last week and they seem to have been rather generous with their germs as I now also have a cold. Emma has been enjoying good health, so I also have an inquisitive, active toddler to contend with. Poorly children mean busy days and sleepless nights, so this mummy hasn't had a lot of energy left for taking photos and blogging (I'm not whining, just giving a reason for my absence)!

Hopefully normal blogging will resume when life takes on some semblance of normality again!
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