Twinkles and more: Lifestyle

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If you're a regular reader of my blog, you'll know that at the end of every month I normally do a post about what we've been up to that month - a bit of a round up really. However, with my recent marathon training and the generally business of life with three kids, I haven't managed to do on since January!

Rather than do a post for each month I've missed, I thought I'd do a bit of a roundup post as a bit of a catch up. My memory is rubbish since having the kids, so I'm not sure I'll remember everything, but I'm sure I'll be able to capture the important bits!

February

At the beginning of Feb we had the twins third birthday. I can't actually believe that they are three already. Their birthday fell mid-week, so Simon and I both had the day off work and took them to Conkers, which they enjoyed. Once we'd collected Oscar from school we went to our local Indian restaurant, which they love. The following weekend, they had a little party at one of our local play centres, which they loved.

Also in February we went to Norfolk during half term week and stayed in a gorgeous cottage. I'm planing on doing a post about where we stayed, so keep your eyes peeled for that one.

March

March mainly consisted of lots marathon training and eating well, so was pretty quiet.

We had Easter towards the end of March, so we had the twin's Easter Bonnet Parade at pre school, which was super cute.

On Easter Sunday we went to a family fun day at Nottingham Forest, our local football team, which was good fun. Heidi particularly liked the face painting!

April

April was London Marathon month, so was mostly spent preparing myself mentally and physically. I've captured my marathon experience on my blog, so you can read Part One and Part Two if you want to see how I got on.

May

In May I felt like I got my life back! No more turning down social occasions because of training and it meant I could drink again - hurray!

At the beginning of May we went to Ascot for the day with my Mum and Dad, which was brilliant. We stayed overnight at the Hilton, Bracknell, which is perfect if you're attending Ascot.

During the middle of the month we attended a Christening, which was a lovely day.

I also attending my first blogging conference, the Tots 100 Blogcamp, which was great. You can read all about it here.

Holiday shopping was also quite prominent in May, in preparation for our holiday to Dubai, which was at the end of May. I've written a full post about how we got on, which you can read here.

So there you have it a quick update of what we've been up to the past few months. I can't believe how fast this year is going!

Now that the marathon is over, I hope to resume doing the monthly round up, so keep a look out for June's update at the beginning of July.

J x

We've just been away for a lovely week in a cottage in Norfolk, so it's been very quiet on here!

I'm so late with this, but as the point of it is to capture our memories I still wanted to post.

I'm not really a huge January fan. It's cold, dark and we're often watching the pennies following Christmas. This year was no exception. We were also jet lagged as we returned from Florida at the beginning of the month. My mum was also poorly for almost 3 weeks. It was all pretty scary, she's better now, so doctors think it was just a bug, but we're waiting for blood test results to come back.

It wasn't all doom and gloom though Oscar turned 6 and we had a great party at Pizza Express.

The fact that we needed to cut back a little meant we had to be creative at coming up with activities to keep the children amused. Making pizzas was one of the favourites!

Marathon training has begun and that also means healthy eating. I put 10lbs on over the festive season so healthy eating and minimal booze was definitely required!

To help me keep track of my training and also be more organised in general, I've been trying to get more organised and have been using some fab products from Busy B stationery. You can read the post I wrote for their blog here.

Henry had his first hair cut at the barbers, which he really loved (thankfully)! Simon's Sister normally cuts it but we couldn't seem to arrange a suitable time and Henry's hair was getting a little crazy!

We also, with the help of Wayfair.co.uk, finally finished our bedroom makeover, which you can read about here!

So, although it wasn't all rubbish, I was definitely pleased to see the end of Jan!

J x

January has felt like a very long month and if I'm honest I'm so glad it's over. Here are some of the things I've been using to help get me through January.

Beauty

A friend of mine is a Nu Skin distributor and I recently tried their Curling Mascara and Epoch Glacial Mud Mask. The mascara is amazing, it makes my lashes super long, doesn't give me panda eyes and comes off nice and easily with make up remover. It was only launched in the middle of Jan and is already a sell out and it's easy to see why.

The mask is also amazing. I could really see it bringing out the impurities and my skin was so clear after using, which lasted for a few days. It's like a facial in a bottle. I'm definitely going to be doing this on a weekly basis!

I was so impressed with the products that I have signed up to become a distributor too. If you'd like to find out more, please get in touch.

Fashion

I've been all about the statement necklace this month. We're trying to be frugal after Christmas, so instead of buying new clothes I've been using accessories to jazz up existing pieces.

Home

I've been brightening up my home with Spring-like flowers. I've had enough of winter, so these are really cheering me up.

We've also been revamping our bedroom, so I've been buying lots of bits and pieces for that too. I'll be sharing more about that in the next couple of weeks.

Food

The health kick and marathon training has started, so I've been using this Slender Blend protein shake by Protein World after my long runs on a weekend. I blend it with a banana, peanut butter and almond milk. It tastes amazing and is definitely my reward after a long run!

What have you been loving in January?

J xx

I haven't done this in a few months and I'm actually very late with this one but thought I'd post it anyway.

Beauty

I have to be honest and admit that when I go to bed I'm often so tired that I really can't be bothered to do my whole face cleansing routine. In fact, in the past I have been known not to bother, or to resort to a quick once over with a wet wipe! I know this is not good and as I get older I really need to pay more attention to my skin. I have however decided to be realistic and thought I'd give Simple Micellar Water a try. The fact that I could just apply to a cotton pad and sweep over my face really appealed. I've been really impressed it's really easy to use, removes all my make up and doesn't leave any residue or dry out my skin. I keep it on my bedside table and use it on the nights I'm too tired to use my Liz Earle Hot Cloth Cleanser. I follow with my Kiehls Recovery Concentrate.

Fashion

I recently got this in Tesco for £7! I purchased a burgundy coloured one just before Christmas and really loved the fit. It's the kind of top that I can wear to work, or with skinny jeans for a meal out or a trip to the pub with my local mummy friends.

Home

I absolutely love The White Company so, as you can imagine, I was super happy when I got given lots of their stuff for Christmas. I particularly like these reed scent diffusers, which is a good job as I got three for Christmas! I've got this one in our bedroom and it smells lovely. The scent really lasts without being overpowering. Definitely the best scent diffuser I've used.

Food

Before Christmas I was sent this beautiful Panettone by Italia Regina who provide a little taste of Italy where ever you are in the world. The packaging was amazing and the actual Panettone was really tasty and flavoursome. I'd definitely order more stuff from Italia Regina in the future. Their products would make fantastic gifts for some of our foodie friends.

I love reading these sort of posts, so feel free to share your current favourite things below.

J xx

A little bit later than usual with this, but we've only just returned from a lovely week in Orlando, so catching up with work, washing and removing the Christmas decs and getting over jet lag has meant I've been a bit short of time!

As it is for most people, December was pretty hectic, lots of shopping, Christmas parties (and hangovers), nativity plays and generally getting ready for the big day, coupled with getting organised ready for our trip to Orlando on Boxing Day!

Here's a roundup of our month:

Work Christmas parties

I do love a good Christmas party. I always go to Simon's work do and it's normally amazing, this year was no exception. It was great to go out and party together.

My work do was the following week. As I work at a small company it was employees only, so Simon wasn't able to come. It was a really fun night. I was relatively sensible with the drinking though as it was the twins' nativity play the following day.

Nativities

Every year I always have a tear in my eye when watching the children's nativities. It was the twins' first one and they both did amazingly. Heidi was an angel and Henry was a shepherd, they looked super cute! Oscar was a visitor and did an amazing job singing to all the songs.

Big boy/girl beds

In December the twins finally moved into big girl/boy beds, which was a bit of a milestone. I was a little sad that there will be no more babies in our house!

A visit to see Santa

We went to a local garden centre to visit Santa the weekend before Christmas. The Santa was brilliant, he really took the time to speak to the children about what they wanted for Christmas. They all loved him, even Heidi who is often a bit apprehensive about these things.

Christmas Eve

On Christmas Eve we went to our local in the afternoon for a couple of drinks with friends, which is a bit of a yearly ritual. We then went to our local Indian restaurant and had a lovely meal with my Mum and Dad, before returning home to get things organised ready for Santa's visit!

The Big Day

On Christmas Day we had Simon's Mum and Dad over for breakfast and my Mum and Dad for Christmas Dinner. It was a lovely day and the children were very spoilt!

Orlando

On Boxing Day we went to Orlando for a week, which was amazing. I won't write too much here as I'm planning to do a full post on it in the next couple of weeks. We had a brilliant time - I think it was actually the best holiday we've had since having the twins, so travel with all three kids must be getting easier!

Overall a lovely month of celebrations and indulgence.

I hope you all had a fab December too!

J xx

You may have noticed that I've changed the name of this monthly roundup very slightly to 'Capturing our moments' instead of 'Capturing the special moments'. I know it's a very slight change and that's because I want these posts to capture all the moments from our month. There may not be anything particularly special about them, in fact they could be quite ordinary and that's fine. It's these moments that I want to capture, so we don't forget about the little things.

October was pretty hectic for us, so I was quite looking forward to November being calmer. It turned out that, although it wasn't nearly as busy as October, we still had plenty on to keep us amused.

Early in the month I went out with a friend who I used to work with. We tend to meet up a couple of times a year. We've both got children so we always use our get together's as a chance to get dressed up, drink cocktails and do a bit of dancing. This night out was no except, although I must say my hangovers seem to get worse as I get older!

I finally got round to having my hair done. It had been quite a while and I had lots of grey showing, so I decided to go lighter in an attempt to disguise the grey better. I really like it.

During November, we had Oscar's Parent's Evening at his school. Oscar isn't the most academic child. He is very eager to learn but struggles a little with his reading and writing, so I was keen to find out what his teacher had to say. She was really lovely and basically reassured us that he's not the only one and that it's very normal at this age. She also said how lovely Oscar is and what great manners he has! We were both very proud of our little man.

November is the month of my lovely Mum's Birthday, which fell on a Saturday. We went to my Parent's house for a special Birthday lunch and then Simon and I went out with them in the evening for cocktails and a meal, which was lovely.

A few days after her birthday, my Mum and I went on a spa day, which was a lovely relaxing treat. You can read all about our day here.

During the month this arrived!

I'd ordered it from a company called Craftly after seeing it on Facebook. Every evening Santa's elves come through the elf door and put a letter in the post box to each child, from Santa. It's really lovely and the children get so excited every morning. It's also helped to improve their behaviour as they have to follow the goals set by Santa!

Oscar lost his first tooth, which he was very excited about. He had to have a tooth taken out earlier in the year due to an infection, but this was the first time one had come out on its own.

Towards the end of the month, Oscar took one of his friends to see Nottm Forest, his favourite football team, which he was very excited about. They had a great time.

So all in all, still a pretty busy month but thankfully a little quieter than October.

I'm pretty certain December will be manic as always!

J xx

I didn't manage to get chance to do a 'Things I'm loving lately post' last month, but I do really enjoy doing them, so here's my roundup of some of the things I've been loving this month...

Beauty

Kiehls Midnight Recovery Concentrate

I've been using this for a few months now, but now the cold weather has arrived I'm finding it really beneficial. I use it at night instead of a moisturiser. It feels amazing on and smells amazing too. When I wake it the morning my skin feels really smooth. My skin is normally a bit dry in the winter but this products seems to be stopping the dryness. It's quite pricey but you only need to use a tiny amount so it will last ages.

Fashion

I recent bought this denim shirt from Next and I love wearing it at the weekend. I tend to wear it with black or burgundy skinny jeans and black ankle boots. It's definitely one of my favourites at the min!

Home

I've been after a laundry basket like this for ages. I tend to have to carry armfuls of laundry (I feel like I'm always doing laundry!) upstairs, often doing a couple of trips. However, this will mean I carry it all in one go. It also looks stylish too! It was £14.99 from Dunelm.

Whilst I was there I also picked up this grey wooden crate for a bargain fiver! It fits perfectly on the shelf in our utility room and matches the colour perfectly! I'm tempted to get a couple more to put on the top the the shelves for bits and pieces.

Food

I've been trying to follow Slimming World as much as possible so we've been having lots of hearty meals, which are classed as 'free' on the Slimming World Programme. Chilli, Spag Bol and Cottage Pie are all firm favourites. I've also been having fruit with Muller Light Fruitopolis yogurt (1/2 Syn) for breakfast, which I'm really enjoying. Sometimes porridge or cereal is just too much for me first thing, I find fruit and yogurt a bit lighter.