Thankful

photo from google

I know we don't celebrate Thanksgiving this side of the pond. But would it not do everybody good to pause and reflect on what we are thankful for?

I am thankful that my boys are healthy and happy, that I have a mostly fabulous husband who works very very hard to provide for us all, and for my wonderful friends - in real life and blogland!

And before you all reach for a bucket ;)

I'm thankful for Yankee candles....fairy lights.....toasty warm ugg boots....gingerbread latte....and Amazon (couldn't have finished my christmas shopping without you!!)

Its nearly the start of advent, THE calendar will get the big reveal at the weekend, and I really need to crack on with my christmas crafting...but first, I have a night in with the girls to cook for and a 12 year old's birthday to belatedly celebrate, school and sharing him with his father has got in the way so we are pausing his birthday and restarting it on Saturday!!!

Back to Life

So we are back.

I am totally in love with New York.....may have to restrict my unnecessary purchases next year so I can save up for another trip quicker.

NY was everything I had hoped it would be. We had a great, busy and very tiring time.....we walked miles and miles, and I have learnt that Ugg boots do not provide adequate foot support if you are walking more than half a day!!! Next time I will wear proper shoes.

We did all the usual touristy things, used the metro, ate VERY well indeed in some very lovely places, celebrated a birthday. Found this shop. Relaxed.

The shopping was underwhelming to be honest. Having been told NYC was THE place to shop, I wonder if its just me!!! We didn't go to shop, but the places we did visit, I can't say anything was any different or any cheaper to anything I could get through careful shopping in the UK.

I have some lovelies to show and tell , of course I did some shopping!!!) but whilst I get my head round the unpacking and washing, I'll bore you to tears with my snapshots!!!

I haven't actually sorted through the pics yet and edited or deleted so these are a bit random but anyway....enough of that.....I'll go and take pics of the fabric I bought....much more interesting!!!

Home

Ah! You can't beat getting back to your own home after being away for a week!!

We had a long journey.... love travelling with small boys (no really!) they get so excited about crossing over a very big bridge!!

and after a hideous overnight stay in a hotel in Dover (nothing wrong with the hotel that air con couldn't fix...but small boys didn't want to sleep as we were in the same room !!)....we got on a big boat.....

And sailed to France.

manky looking Boulogne taken from the boat

We have just returned from a week in Normandy .

It was very lovely. The weather got MUCH better!!!!

We stayed here. And it was lovlier than the pictures on the website. A really pretty old stone cottage, with lots of low beams (my 6ft2 husband didn't find the beams as lovely as I did!!!). It was a comfortable home from home, with lovely touches from the owner (who lives next door), like a welcome basket of goodies for our arrival including chilled wine!! The baby had been well catered for too, a cosy cot and a baby bath (showers only in the accomodation) with baby toiletries. And I really appreciated the lovely toybox left in the lounge for the boys, as did the small boys!!

(its the little things that make a stay I think!!)

The cottage was in the middle of nowhere, but easily accessible - the silence was heavenly. Its not especially noisy where I live but I couldn't sleep the first night home because of the traffic noise!!

The owners have 2 boys of their own and aswell as the pool, they have put a big trampoline and undercover table tennis for the properties to use.

We did have a lovely break but it was a stressful week to be honest, purely because of the ages of my boys - 14, 11, 4 and 20 months - its a bit too varied to successfully have days out etc that suit everyone!!

We holidayed with my parents too, for the 4th year running, and considering other people adds to the stress a teeny bit!! Although mums presence was appreciated on Friday when lovely husband and I got 2 hours to ourselves to lunch in a nearby town :)

We did manage some days out, including the d-day landing beaches, which deserve a post all of their own, and a couple of trips to a lovely park with a lake and a great walk, but we have made the decision not to take a full week holiday next year, so all being well we will do Legoland as a full 6 for the weekend, then we will take the boys away seperately, a long weekend with big boys doing big boys things, same for the little boys and if we are really lucky, another for mummy and daddy with no boys at all!!!


(taken from Domfront Castle)
Thank you all for the lovely comments on the posts I scheduled whilst away. I plan to work this week on getting my blogshop sorted aswell as finishing my sleepover swap :)

I'm back...

Back from holiday - very overwhelmed by my ironing pile right now but I'm having a breather to put some of my pics up in case you are interested!!!! Didn't take as many as I thought I had though!

We stayed not far from Newquay (which didn't impress me - sorry!! more on that another time!!) and my new favourite places in the world are Port Isaac and Padstow.

Truly fabulous part of the country - I totally get now why artists of all descriptions end up there for inspiration - only downside is it is such a long way away!!Are we there yet? times loads on both journeys!!! Will definately go back again when little boys are bigger unless someone works out how to move Cornwall to the East Coast!!!

St Ives beach - the sea was too cold for us softies though!!Fishing with Grandad...I was stood on the verandah of our lodge taking this.Newquay surfers -Port Isaac - fell in love with nearly every house here!

Newquay here we come..

We are off on our hols on Friday...so I really shouldn't be making packed lunch fodder like this:

Nor should I be anywhere near the computer I should be packing!!

Its times like this that I realise how hard it is having 4 children..and how many clothes we have!!! I know this because I have ironed nearly everything we own in the past week - serves me right for being a lazy ironer (what we need for the week - nothing more!!)

I know that I will wear 1 pair of shoes all week - not the 8 pairs I have so far packed....but I won't be unpacking them!! I know that I will be so exhausted from the day time that I will only be changing into my pyjamas....but I won't be unpacking the 3 pretty skirts I've packed for 'evenings'!!!

Why do I find it so hard to pack lightly...can anyone do this?? How do you stop the panic rising when you only put in just enough pants for the week!! I mean it must be YEARS since I had an accident and needed a change of underwear but I empty my drawer whenever I go away!!

Anyway, back soon - hopefully refreshed and raring to go with project house!!

I'll leave you with a picture of 'the' stools......I am banned from looking at ebay for the time being!!! I'm hoping for a 2week turnaround on them once we're home!!

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