A Summer Catch Up

I haven't been a very active blogger recently but my mid-year resolution [I like the idea of that! A fresh start with things in the middle of the year!] is to get my blog up and running properly and use it to the best of my advantage. I wanted to start blogging to network with other mummy's and widen my horizons as a stay at home mother constantly looking for new opportunities. I've kinda sucked on all those levels!

July came and went, and I have no idea where it went to be honest! I cannot believe it's August already! Apologies in advance for the summer spam!

Mid July saw us take our first holiday as a family. My first holiday in 5 years. Wow! Finances don't stretch too well now we are a family and I don't work. We had a little Monday-Friday break to Southport with my partner's family who go there regularly. I have never been and didn't know what to expect, but I ended up not wanting the week to end. We had a lazy week by the seaside, swimming and going to the beach, sleeping in [to 7.30!] and having yummy food, seaside trips with ice-cream and nosying round the lovely shops. 

                                              

We rarely spend quality time out and about as a family of three. In between family visiting, work, meetings, courses, house work, we have little time doing fun things or having days out as just the three of us. We relished it. I wish we could have that week over and over again. Evan keeps asking for 'holiday'. Oh, I wish I could give it to you again!

The British summer is proving to be wonderful, and the long sunny days have been perfect for going to the park [super lucky to live so close to the wonderful Tatton Park], lounging in the garden and splashing in the paddling pool. 

I hope everyone is enjoying the summer! It's going by far too quickly ... next month Evan turns 3! I can hardly believe it. I'm trying not to think so far ahead. 

Vintage lover!

I love vintage things. Not stylish vintage from the 50s or 60s. Bright, colourful, gawdy, cheesy vintage from the 80s. Nostaglic items from my childhood [born in 1983]. Sweet, wholesome vintage from the 50s. I have super long wishlists on Etsy full of items I wish I could buy! Care Bears, vintage Disney, old books, toddler clothes. Knick-knacks that remind me of my childhood that I would love Evan to have. I could spend all day on Etsy trawling through their vintage goodies. What do you all love to look at on Etsy? 

Here are a few of my favourite things! 

 

I have a feeling I may be stuck in the wrong era! I'd love a home full of these kind of knick-knacks. I love the nostalgia, the memories, the simplicity. I've made a previous post about simplicity. I love enjoy the internet, TV shows and films and being able to fill up an ipod with my favourite music. However, I do love simpler things. Traditional things. I loved my childhood, playing with Barbies and watching a few of my favourite shows. The colours, the food, the excitement. Trips out were special occasions and not done every weekend. Holidays were something to look forward to once a year. Such wonderful, happy memories that I hope to create for my own family. 

Cherishing Life

Last week was marred by hearing about the sad deaths of two people in the public eye, gone way before their time, leaving behind devoted spouses and children. I couldn't get the thoughts of their deaths out of my mind for days. It was all I could think about ... what if it happened to me? What if something happened to me? My beautiful little boy, who asks for mummy when he is half asleep in the middle of the night, growing up without a mother. Nobody should have to grow up without a mother. Do my family, my partner, my son know how much I love them with all my heart? I hope so. 

The thoughts have slowly diminished over the past few days. I embrace every day with my son, I always have. He is the most important thing in my world and I want him to know how loved he is each and every day. I sometimes want to stop time, but I love seeing the wonderful little boy he is becoming. I want to cherish these times, as hard as it is sometimes. This is the only life I am going to have. As each day passes, that day has gone forever. The memories we make each day are what make up his childhood, our lives, our memories. 

Life gets busy sometimes and things get in the way, but I love special times I can just spend with my family. I hope to grow old and grey with my wonderful man and have lots of lovely family memories to look back on. I hope to make new traditions every year and have a long healthy life. That's why I started this blog ... maybe years and years and years from now, Evan can look at it and see how much his mummy was in love with her little blonde boy and her little family. 

An overdue post

I haven't posted in a while ... nothing consciously done, but nonetheless I wanted this to be a blog to document my life and my loves and not done out of duty, I suppose. However, I didn't intend to leave it this long! 

Thank you all for your lovely comments on my last post. I think we have decided against pre-school for Evan. I'm gathering lots of info for teaching him pre-school from home at the moment. In my opinion, 3 is just too young. I am respectful of everyone's opinions on nurseries, pre-school and school. Every parent must do what is right for them and their child. I am not against pre-schools, I just knew that I wouldn't be enrolling Evan for every hour that the Government was giving them as a funded session. Little ones are so little for such a short period of time ... I want to soak it all in. I do not know if we will be blessed with another child. I don't want to have regrets. I have always gone with my instincts when it comes to parenting, and I don't want to stop that because it goes against the norm. There is nothing wrong with a little one being at home with their mummy and playing outside and learning letter and numbers over cereal and cuddles. 

I have enjoyed so many special moments with this little guy lately, I don't even know where to start. We have really gotten into baking together. He loves cracking the eggs and stirring the mixture! I have a few recipes to share so I think I'll perhaps start a recipe section as I love to bake and I love that my little 2 year old is getting so interested in it too, even if he isn't that keen on the finished result!

What are your favourite activities with your toddlers? 

Home Education

I've had one of those days today where I've been so thankful to be able to stay home with my baby [maybe not such a baby anymore at 2 and a half!]. He has the start of a horrible sounding cough and I just don't know how, if I'd had to, I would have been able to leave him. It is a special sacred thing, this motherhood journey.

I am constantly thinking of next year, when other toddlers of Evan's age will be starting pre-school. I hate the thought of him going, I have to be honest. I think children start school way too early, and there is such pressure to send them away to nurseries, pre schools and the like, making mothers feel like they need to be away from them to become well-rounded children, that they have to be left all day in a nursery or pre-school at 3-years-old.

I don't care how unfashionable it makes me sound, I don't agree with it. He is home with me for such a short amount of time of his [hopefully] long life. He will have years upon years of education ahead of him in which he'll learn so much and make lots of friends. Just let him have a few years at home with his mama, reading stories and baking cakes and playing in the garden. 

Home schooling has such an appeal to me, and I think if we didn't have such a goods, small Catholic school just around the corner, it would be something I would very seriously look into. Have any of you opted to home school your children? I am eager to know all about it! Have any of you decided against sending your child to pre-school? I feel like how I feel is going against the grain and I don't want to hinder Evan in any way ... I just feel that he is too little to be heading off to school. I want my babies home with me!

Starting my own 'business'

I have a serious 'printables' addiction. I love them! I think they are such a fun, easy way to make a room different all year round. I found lots on Pinterest, printed them, bought some cheap frames and put them up around the house. I change them according to the time of year so it livens things up a little. 

I found printables particularly great when decorating Evan's bedroom. I found some brilliant personalised ones that look great in his bedroom and make it unique and interesting. 

After a while, I started thinking of making my own. I made one for my other half for Valentine's Day of Disney couples, and made another with my favourite song lyrics. After I showed him, he said "you should sell them!" ... so I looked into it and opened my own Etsy shop! I was amazed to find there was a lot of shops on Etsy selling printables and there seemed a lot of demand for them. 

I love making them in the evening, or when Evan is engrossed in an episode of Peppa Pig. It's also been fun connecting with other new businesses and Etsy shops, and I've already completed my first order for a mum of twin boys - I love customising one of my printables just how she wanted! And the prices range between £2 and £5 so they're really affordable.

Here are a few I've been working on this week:

I would love you to come and visit my online shop and have a look around. The printables are either an 'instant download' which means you download the printable to your computer as soon as you've purchased it, or a personalised print where there can be different colour or name changes made to suit you! Just click on the link below, and thank you.

Rachel's Magical Printables on Etsy

Simplicity

Sometimes I joke with my other half that I'd like to live in the American Prairie times. Or be Amish for a week. I love that traditional, homey, family-orientated life. I keep trying to put some of that into my every day like. 

I realise this is not 'trendy' or 'super modern'. I'm bucking the trend! I love staying home with my son, I feel like there is no job more important that I will ever have in my life than being a present, loving mother. 

I take my role as a mother and homemaker very seriously. I enjoy looking after my home and [attempting!] to work on the garden. I love to nurture my son. I love to bake and could happily bake apple pies and cookies with my little boy everyday. 

I like keeping life simple, not running around here, there and everywhere. I like old TV shows [seriously, Murder She Wrote and Dallas are my favourites!] and sitting down with a hot drink and a book. I dream of a big ranch with animals and country music. I fiercely love my family and, if I could, I would have a big family and my life would be full of tiny chatter and loving memories. 

Like I have said in my previous post, I'm not a gadget and gizmos kinda girl. My phone is and old hand-me-down, as are a lot of things we have. I want to make sure I never lose sight of what is important to me and what I feel matters in this crazy modern world. I want my son to stay little and innocent for as long as possible, I want him to love his trains and playing sport and spending time with his family.