Ava has been mulling over a few career options recently. She’s wanted to be a racing driver, and then a running racer for a while, and has also considered being a wedding cake designer. She’s made a beautiful one out of paper and stuck it on her bedroom wall, (and then added to it, on to the paint…) and is keen to expand her repertoire.
The time when Ava was totally freaked out by the Gruffalo
Ava loves ‘The Gruffalo’ (who doesn’t?) so a few years ago, we thought it would be a good idea to take her to see him in ‘real life’. 
It turns out she liked the book, but the human in a seven foot costume? Not so much.
This was as close as we got before we feared she would never recover! Continue reading
“I love you to Spanish and back!”
When we put the girls to bed, they often say “I love you to the moon and back” and of course we say the same thing back. But recently, Ava has been saying “I love you to Spanish and back” and then “I love you to Turkey and back.” I didn’t think much of it, just assuming she’d heard one of her friends taking about a holiday, or they had been talking about different countries at school.
I was getting them ready for bed and Ava was talking about Turkey again, so I asked her where she’d heard about Turkey. And she started chanting this:
Like mother, like daughters: loving make-up runs in our family!
I love make-up, and have done every since I was a teenager. I love nothing more than trying a new product, although I have curbed my addiction over the past few years as I’ve been trying to only buy natural products as much as possible (there is way less choice).
I’m not the only one to like make-up though – here’s Ava a few years ago, putting my blusher on her nose.
But if Ava needs some more application practice, Thea really needs some help!
Ava and the scissors: a new haircut, and ‘customised’ school uniform
I went to pick Ava up from school and her teacher met me and took me to one side.
She gently broke the news that Ava had cut her own hair.
Of course I had visions of her lopping off her plait and when she said they had saved the hair, I was imagining a carrier bag full. Fortunately, it was just in a small envelope: you can imagine my relief!
So here she is, modelling her new fringe…
I tried to be strict about it and let her know it wasn’t the right thing to do, but she kind of rocks her new look, so I found it hard. I was just grateful she hadn’t cut any more off!
But, by not telling her off properly, I may have inadvertently opened the floodgates to more scissors-related adventures. Continue reading
My Am-Dram childhood
What extra-curricular activities did you do when you were a kid? Football? Swimming lessons? Something else normal?
Well we went to an amateur dramatics society. All of us.
Here we are in ‘Oliver!’ I think my dad was the Doctor, mum was some kind of housekeeper/workhouse woman (still acting the part in the photo) and us kids were street urchins.
What I’ve learned from my first year being a freelance copywriter
A year ago, I took the huge (and very scary) step of leaving my secure, sensible, and generally fun job as Senior Copywriter at Avon, to go freelance.
I had practical worries: Will anyone want to hire me? Will I make enough money? Will I be lonely working by myself? Am I crazy to give up a good job in a recession? What if being self-employed is more stressful than my job? What if I get too distracted by other tasks to work from home?
But I also had two very good reasons for leaving. Ava and Thea.
I was worried that by having them in childcare four days a week I was missing out on way too much. The cute email updates from nursery were tinged with a shade of sadness, and even guilt, that I should have been there when they did that funny dance/painted that brilliant picture etc. I felt that my precious time with them was slipping away. Continue reading
Five things I love right now: October
1. Wayfair.co.uk glass terrarium. I’m going to plant this up with succulents, but for now, I’ve filled it with pinecones and conkers that the girls have collected.
2. TIGER bathroom accessories. Our ‘new’ bathroom was finished in the new year, but we haven’t decided on new towels or other accessories yet. When we do, I will blog about it, so you can see the transformation! I found these great little beakers in TIGER for a pound each, and was so pleased, as they have suckers on the back so they don’t clutter up the sink. Ava and Thea each have their own and they put their brush and toothpaste back after they use them, rather than just chucking them into the sink. So we might go for turquoise towels to match!
Ava’s not very keen on Halloween
I think this is probably be the best photo I have ever taken. It was two years ago at Ava’s nursery Halloween disco. It pretty much sums up how I feel about Halloween.
Ava really getting in to the Halloween spirit.
Not a popular way of thinking, I’ll admit. I don’t like all the ghosts and spiders and witch decorations that are about at this time of year. I want my house to look pretty, not scary! Continue reading
