My boy's rainbow life

I don't subscribe to the idea of colours for boys or for girls. If my son likes something it doesn't matter what colour it is. As a result he has a pink and purple play kitchen, blue railway tracks, mega bloks in primary colours and a fair amount of red toys as he loves fire engines right now. I like to think my son's life is a riot of colour and here is why:

I cannot explain why my son chose to wear his pink pony dressing up outfit to watch TV with us, but he does look pretty cute doesn't he ?

My little pink pony

For weeks now we've seen strawberries growing on our plants in the garden. The last few years they've been pinched by animals before we've had a chance to eat them. This year we finally got to a homegrown red strawberry before the squirrels or birds got to it and it was thoroughly enjoyed by my boy.

My mini gardener

The boy went to play mini golf with Hubbie on Friday and he was so impressed with the green waterfall that he stopped to take a look during the game. I'm not sure that's what the pros do is it ? 

Mini golf for a mini golfer

It was Biggin Hill Airshow last weekend and the Red Arrows display was visible from our house - just about - the boy was really impressed with the red, white and blue smoke trails they left behind.

The Red Arrows

We made muffins on Friday, but it was a wonder there were any blueberries left to put in them as the boy is a big fan of all fruit and kept munching, 'just one more Mummy.'

Banana & blueberry muffins 

My boy loves public transport and especially buses. His favourite place is the London Transport Museum and being allowed to 'drive' is a dream come true for him - if you look closely you will see him here in the driver's seat.

A big red bus

And last, but by no means least, there is my boy's partner in naughtiness, Neo the cat. Known locally as 'the white cat' he is (in)famous. They are a dynamic duo and make me laugh every day.

Neo the white cat

So, those are the colours in my son's life. I think it's fair to say that red is the most prominent colour right now, but he is only three years old, so I'm sure that will change. For now I will keep bringing as many colours into his life as possible so he continues to enjoy a rainbow of experiences and fun.

This post is our entry to the Hillarys Blinds Children's True Colours Competition.

It's FRIDAAAAAAAAYYYYY !!!!!!!

Ok, I know you already know that so maybe it's a bit obvious. Like those people who always post on Facebook the 'Thank Goodness It's Friday" images of drinking, partying or going somewhere exotic. If you are one of those people, just shush ok ?

If - like me - you're a stay at home parent/carer/pet parent/whatever this may be like any other day for you. It makes no odds that tomorrow is not a working day because every day is a working day/ non-working day for some of us. Well for me Saturday is the day I do my radio show in the morning so it's more like a working day than most actually.

However, this week I've got a few things to be happy about - not just the blazing sunshine outside which made the picnic we went to today a fun and fabulous activity instead of a potential disaster as outdoor events can so often be. As it's almost the weekend I thought a photo post might also be fun:




My new cards have arrived in plenty of time for Britmums Live in a few weeks. I've also got a fantastic sponsorship with a local company working with kids that we love, love, love. More details to follow in my Britmums post...

Kathleen Perkins' gorgeous hair

The fab comedy series Episodes was back this week and found this pic of the gorgeous Kathleen Perkins - who responded to a tweet of mine !!!! I'm having my hair cut this week and I SOOO want this style - maybe not so blonde though.

Talking of Episodes - I took part in the Mumsnet web chat with Stephen Mangan on Thursday and he was just so lovely. He was talking about his new movie Postman Pat (he is the voice of Pat) as well as previous projects like Green Wing, Jeeves and Wooster and - of course - Episodes.

He kindly responded to a few of my questions, so of course he's my new best friend :)

My love of social media has resulted in a massive coup this week - I spotted on Twitter that Jesus and Mary Chain are playing live this November and this morning me and Hubbie were both online sweating profusely while clicking refresh to get tickets, they sold out in 5 minutes.

After an adrenaline packed 5 minutes I sent Hubbie a text to say "we got tickets !!!" I am beyond excited.



Now if this post sounds a bit boastful please be assured it is not often I get a week of lots of nice things happening. That's why it's such a big deal and I'm mentioning it. Also, it is lovely and sunny outside and that automatically makes things seem better doesn't it ?

I read this week that 'positive things happen to positive people' - no I'm not getting all philosophical on you it was an interview with Sarah Beeny.

So my mantra (for now at least) is to be positive :)

Easter Family Fun with HP and Snapfish

I remember the first Easter Egg Hunt we did with our boy when he was barely 6 months old and he had no idea what was going on. We hid creme eggs and small foiled wrapped eggs all over the house and took him around as he looked baffled/disinterested and the cat was just unimpressed to find a non biscuit treat in his bed.

Now he's older our boy knows how an Easter Egg Hunt works so we were delighted when HP/Snapfish invited us to an Easter themed day out to play Easter games and try out some crafts at the Bethnal Green Museum of Childhood. We arrived early so the boy and Hubbie had a stroll around the cabinets filled with lovely traditional toys - the displays of confiscated items were far more interesting to us adults though.

The first activity we did was a virtual Easter Egg Hunt which was brilliant. Equipped with a tablet computer the boy and Hubbie took photos of the pictures of eggs they found outside and sent the images to a printer that was indoors - magic !!


I don't know who is more excited about this egg hunt to be honest.

As well as the egg hunt we also used some HP printables to make a photo box using our own photos as well as a rabbit mask. The printables are free online and make a great activity for rainy days or holidays when you have run out of parks to go to and energy to make and do. 

By far the cutest activity on the day was dressing up. Our boy does love playing dress up, but the speed with which he put on a rabbit outfit surprised even me. He makes a very adorable Easter bunny indeed. I cannot wait until he is a teenager and I can show him the photos and embarrass him completely. I'm thinking of making a large canvas print of the rabbit ones using Snapfish and putting it on the wall for maximum effect :)

What we didn't expect was a lovely Easter basket filled with goodies including glitter glue, colouring pens and some chocolate eggs (of course). I'm reusing the basket for some more chocolate goodies - I love a good basket me - and we can't wait to make Easter pictures, cards and some homemade photo gifts for the grandparents. We love Snapfish and when the boy was born everyone we know got a photo gift from linen photo books to canvas prints and mugs adorned with photos of the baby.














I've actually asked for something different from chocolate this year. I've asked Hubbie to 'sponsor' a rabbit for me from Foal Farm, a local charity that rehomes and cares for animals. The ones that cannot be rehomed become permanent residents of the farm and sponsorship pays towards their food and medical care. I'm delighted to be sponsoring Tootsie the rabbit.

I hope you have a wonderful Easter break and that the Easter bunny brings you some lovely treats.

Disclosure: The lovely folks at HP and Snapfish invited us to a family Easter Day - we were not paid, but did receive photo gifts as thanks. 

Gone Fishing

As you read this I'm on my hols - consider this a virtual postcard from the beach where me and Hubbie and the boy are sunning ourselves. The boy has stated his intention to eat ice cream and lollies on the beach every day, Hubbie wants to just get some sleep and I'm hoping to finish a book. Just one book, I'm not greedy.

Me and Hubbie in a rare photo together

The day before we left I donated blood and loaded up series 6 of Mad Men on my iPad as well as 6 Peppa Pig episodes and 10 Dora the Explorers. I've taken teabags - I can't be doing with Liptons which you always get abroad - and whole food bars as we're self catering so I've not entirely escaped cooking.

Sunshine and shades :)

So this comes to you via the magic of the internet - and a slight hope that it's not as hot there as it is here :) 

Even the cat will be sunbathing

This post is part of Mummy Never Sleeps joy filled linky #allthesmallthings