Saturday Night In

Aloha Sprinklerinos,

Once upon a time there was a gal called Louise who spent her Saturday nights in high heels, sipping cocktails and dancing til the small hours. Then, with love and joy, things changed. 

Our Saturday nights are spent in a land of cosy blankets, Disney films, story books and juice cups and I'm so OK with this. 

What do you Saturday nights look like at the moment? 

Toodlepip!

xx

Contributor - Louise

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Playdate Tips

Aloha Sprinklerinos,

Having a little one around is a hoot and a half, but seeing your little one playing with other tiny people is even better.

Playdates are a great opportunity for social development, fun times and one Mama (in this case my gorgeous neighbour) having a rest. To ensure playdates run as smoothly as possible, here are some tips and tricks I try to adhere to. They might not float everyone's boat, but they work for me!

Photography

Since I like to snap everything that moves, I always check with parents if a) it's OK to have their children in pictures and b) if it's alright to put them anywhere (Facebook, Instagram etc). If they say no, respect their wishes and abide by them. Fortunately, my neighbour is a good egg!

Set Activities and Free Play

Before guests arrive, have a few games/ideas up your sleeve to encourage structured play. This provides ready made entertainment and a little bit of focus. Once they tire of that (and that really depends on age and character), leave them to their imaginations. Darcy and Becca spent more time playing in her bedroom with princesses and dolls than they did painting with me. Time just slips away when they're in play mode. It's lovely. 

Expect and Allow Mess

In my books, making a mess of your bedroom whilst playing is entirely fine. There's little point getting in their way and tidying up behind them so as long as the chaos in confined to one room, I'm gonna let them go for it. It might feel unnatural to let destruction rein but for the hour or so they are playing, I like to see children be free spirits. When Darcy is a little older, I'll expect her to clear up herself but for now, it's a pleasure to put it all away knowing she's had a good time. 

Offer Drinks and Toilets

But not at once, heh heh. Offering regular drinks is obvious but when you're little and you're caught up in the moment of play time, it's easy to forget you need a loo break. Just a bit of gentle asking here and there is worth it. 

Love Love Love

The way I look at it is this- if Darcy were at someone else's house, I'd want her to feel loved and cherished there. With this in mind, I like our miniature guests to feel looked after and wanted too. I'm not saying go wild and squish them to bits, but encouraging words and a few cuddles (if they don't mind!) don't go amiss.  

And that's about all we do. What are your top tips for smooth running play dates? I'm always open to learning more. 

Toodlepip!

xx

Contributor - Louise

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Playing with Chalk | Baby-Toddler Ideas

Aloha Sprinklerinos,

As the Summer draws on and Darcy becomes more and more active, we are increasingly looking for fun, easy things to do. 

My criteria for at home fun is always- easy to prepare, interesting and affordable. 

Drawing with chalks is all three- woop!

Whilst in IKEA a few months back, we bought a pack of chalks on a bit of a whim. Darcy has only recently started showing an interest in crayons so I they were a bit of a gamble. Since Spring (when these pictures were taken, hence the wellies and coat), we have been spending a lot of time outside, renovating our overgrown, crappy backgarden. Whilst we chop and dig and moan about the hard work (mostly me!), Darcy potters about on the raised patio area playing.

We introduced the chalks to her thinking she wouldn't bother but we couldn't have been more wrong! She played for agggggeessss. And by 'aaggggesss' I mean over 10 minutes, which is like 4 years in Tot-Terms. 

As you can see, I was pretty enthralled too. 

I love, love, love the 'naughty' element of not using paper and the fact that with the rain the pictures will be gone.

Since we took these snaps Darcy has decorated the outside bricks and we have bought and installed an outdoor blackboard with holders for her colours, which she LOVES. You might have seen it on Instagram if you follow me over there. 

So there you have it, an easy toddler activity that costs nada (providing you have the chalks in of course) and is completely fuss free! 

Last year we did THIS and THIS, so if you have teeny tiny ones, they might be worth a read. 

What do you do in the Summer to keep kiddies occupied? What did you enjoy doing as a little one? I'd love to hear your ideas in the comments. 

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Toodlepip!

xx

Mummy's Heartbreak

Aloha Sprinklerinos,

My little baby is growing up.

When Darcy was a tiny newborn she did nothing but let me cradle her and loll about in my arms, being a little squishy teeny bean.

Now she's two, those moments when she will actually lay in my arms are like rare gems. Sometimes I'm secretly glad when she wakes up in the night because it allows me a rare opportunity to hold her like that and have those quiet moments of love. Those moments are so perfect they almost make me cry. There is absolutely nothing in the entire world I would swap it for.

A few days ago, after her bath, Matt brought her down in her towel (I forget why) and she pretended to be a tiny baby. She thought it was a game. To me it was heartbreaking.

I am so excited to watch my baby grow into a toddler and then child but I am sad for all the time that passes and for all the moments I can't have back. I think this is the impossible fight that every mother feels and no mother concurs.

I can't decide what kind of blog post this is, reflective I suppose. It doesn't really serve much of a purpose to you but since this is my place to document life, I think it's OK to say it.

I'm excited for my child and I miss my tiny baby. My heart doesn't know what to do.

Any advice?


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Toodlepip!

xx

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Darcy's Den

Aloha Sprinklerinos,

I was going to save this for next week because I felt like I should do a beauty review but really, bronzer over baby? I don't think so! 

Yesterday Darcy and I had nowhere to go and no intention of getting out of our pijamas so spent the day playing inside. Since her cot is downstairs at the moment and she's using my office as a place to sleep (she sleeps better in there because of the blackout curtains) there is a little unused nook in her bedroom. 

It was all very spur of the moment but we decided to build a cosy little den and read some books together. For the 'Mummy Mafia' out there, she was supervised every second of the game and fairy lights are obviously not something she usually has so close to her. 

Pretending to be asleep, complete with tiny 'snore' noises. 

All we did to make this was open up the clothes dryer, drape blankets on top, lay the giant duvet on the bottom and bejewel with ornaments rose lights and, most especially, my wedding veil. 

I have my veil displayed in Darcy's room so it was to hand and since she wasn't left alone at any point, I felt OK with it being part of playtime. If you are planning to make this more of an independent activity I would definitely not advise using such precious materials! 

Darcy thought her den was the bees knees and stayed in there for about 40 minutes- long in toddler terms!! I just know we're going to make more of these round the house as she grows so I will be sure to share them with you too. 

What were your favourite childhood games?

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Toodlepip!

xx

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Happy Tea

Aloha Sprinklerinos,

It may surprise you to know that for the last 6 or 7 months I have been pretty tense. It's hard to explain but I feel like a lot is on my shoulders and that if I relax or let go, something bad will happen. Without yammering on and on, I'm learning to let go of the stresses and focus on what's most important- enjoying the little moments of life.

With that in mind, Darcy and I have taken to playing outside in our PJ's, just because we can. 

I've been enjoyed our daily pj-garden-tea-party quite a lot more than I anticipated. There's something really soothing about unplugging from internet stuffs, feeling the fresh air and listening to a two year old babble away. 

There's no real point to this post today, just a 'hello, I like to share my feelings on my blog sometimes' kind of a dealio. Hope you don't mind. Also, no face shots today, we both look a mess and I decided not to spend time messing about glamourising for the sake of a few quick pictures. 

Do you ever feel under a lot of pressure to have a perfect life? What do you do to combat those feelings? Do you think things like Pinterest and blogs add to that pressure?

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Toodlepip!

xx

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Crappy Sheep Day

Aloha Sprinklerinos,

Not too many weeks ago, on a cold, grey day, after we'd taken Darcy for a lovely milkshake that she prompty threw up, gone home, washed and changed, we went to a near by spot to see some sheep and lambs. Yeah, that's right, the weather was sh*t and we'd dealt with puke. Good start.

As you can see from the photos, things that day didn't get much better.

We paid to see the lambs and she cried.

We decided it might be nice to have a look round the grounds and she cried about that too. 

The only thing that would soothe her was being carried by Mama, which as you can imagine, got pretty tiring pretty quickly. So, we didn't look round the little art shops, we didn't stop for a bite to eat and we didn't admire the birds in the aviary. 

Instead, we got in the vomitmobile and drove home.

The moral of this lifestyle blog post is that even when people/families/lives appear 100% perfect online, they're not. Everyone deals with crap, bloggers just know how to take good photos of it ;)

Do you ever look at other people's lives via their blog with envy? I know I do!! 

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Toodlepip!

xx

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Green Fingers?

Aloha Sprinklerinos,

I'm a homebird. I love to be in my house and think of it as my palace. I always feel safe and secure in it and spend hours mooching round websites looking at ways to improve my nest.

Something I have neglected for the past 3 years though is the garden. Matt cuts the grace but that's about it. We don't grow flowers, we don't paint fences, we don't build decking. It's really dismal.

So, this year we're going into outdoors crackdown mode. I want to enjoy summer outside before I get rickets so we're revamping- on a shoestring! I can't bare to spend money on something so boring. With any luck, a bit of elbow grease and some borrowed tools is all we need.

I let Baby Glitter come out with me whilst I wandered round deciding which things would be ripped out and where stuff would go and discovered that she LOVES being out in our garden. This has really made me want to make it a magical place for her. I have big plans!

So, yep, that was a pretty mundane post but then life isn't always jaunts and excitement is it? Sometimes it's playing in the garden in your PJ's and wellies.

If you have garden tips or ideas, feel free to leave them below- I could do with the help!

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Toodlepip!

xx

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Baby Glitter is Two!

Aloha Sprinklerinos,

I am the mother of a two year old human. This astounds me. Firstly that I've managed to keep something alive this long (my record with plants isn't too positive) and secondly that it's gone past in the blink of an eye. If they say time flies when you're having fun, I must've had a blast!

As is customary, we held a bit of a get together in her sweet little name and I thought you might like to see some of the snaps. We had quite a full house but since this is the interwebs and the likes of my Mother-In-Law don't quite get it (understatement of the century), I'm just sharing pictures of familiar faces. I'm sure you understand. 

Dress- Mothercare, Bow- H&M, Cardi- H&M, Eyes- Mama, Mouth- Dada

Ooff he's a hottie. 

I love this too much. The smiles are totally relaxed. Auntie Soosees is so loved. 

No, I'm not eyeing up any cakes. No way. Na-ah. Nope.

Yes, that is glitter on the petals. Well spotted. 

Nobody knew of Tiyana's hidden talents- 30 blueberries in one mouth. Wow. 

Alfie teaches important growling and biting skills. 

I have loved being the Darcybird's Mama these last two years and look forward to many, many, many more. Although she may not be a tiny infant anymore, she'll always be my Baby Glitter. 

Would you like to see more lifestyle posts like this on a Friday or are you all Beauty Review addicts? 

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Toodlepip!

xx

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Marshmallow Pops

Aloha Sprinklerinos,

Baby Glitter and I have been busy doing a lot of fun new activities. 

One of them has been 'cookery'. I say cookery but what I really mean is 'basic stuff in the kitchen with no real skill or effort' haha. 

I thought I'd share with you today how we made marshmallow pops for Darcy's birthday party. They are fun, inexpensive and perfect for little hands to help with. 

This was such a lovely activity to do together and I just know she got a lot out of it. 

It was a great opportunity to introduce knew language, experience new textures and flavours and spend some quality time together. 

To make your own, simply pop lollypop sticks into marshmallows (mine were from Hobbycraft), dip in melted chocolate and then roll in sprinkles or glitter (or whatever you prefer). 

Is this a rainy day activity you might try? Have you done anything similar before?

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Toodlepip!

xx